| 1990 |
The Native American Producers Group is formed to promote native self-determination within the media industry. One of this group's main goals is to produce "quality and culturally appropriate productions involving Native Americans." |
| 1990 |
According to the 1990 census, the population of Native Americans grew by 37.9% since 1980. Population specialists attribute much of this increase to a growing number of people of mixed heritage who choose to identify their Native American ancestry. The median native household income is $20,025 as compared to a national average of $30,056. Native Americans have a 65.5% graduation rate from high school as compared to the national average of 75.2%. Also, 3.1% of Native Americans hold a graduate or professional degree as compared to the national average of 7.2%. |
| 1990 |
An Idaho Native American tribe, the Shoshone-Bannock, file a petition to grant the sockeye salmon on the Snake River in Idaho status as an endangered species. |
| Jan 31, 1990 |
It is reported that Congress has allocated $27,000,000 to pay 400 surviving Aleuts and their children compensation for their forced evacuation during World War II. In 1942, 881 Aleuts were forced to leave the Aleutian Islands in the north Pacific Ocean at only 2 hours' notice following a Japanese landing in the north. The evacuees were located in an overcrowded and inadequate camp near Juneau, Alaska, where nearly one-fifth died from illness and disease. |
| Feb 27, 1990 |
Leaders of several North American tribes enter into an agreement to collectively defend rights granted by their treaties with the US. Tribes from both the US and Canada are to assist each other with legal services and lobbying and law enforcement aid. The tribes also agree to work together to educate the public about federal treaties with Native Americans. |
| Apr 19, 1990 |
The US Supreme Court in Oregon v. Smith rules that a state ban on the use of peyote by Native Americans does not violate the plaintiffs' First Amendment constitutional rights. |
| May 2, 1990 |
Several hundred Canadian and US police enter the St. Regis Mohawk Akwesasne reservation which straddles the US-Canadian border between Quebec and New York. The intervention follows several weeks of fighting between armed factions among the Native Americans which resulted in the deaths of at least 2 people and the displacement of many of the reservation's 9,500 inhabitants. The fighting is between pro and anti-gambling factions. US authorities have been reluctant to act against the casinos on the reservation, which are technically illegal due to a lack of consent to their existence by New York State, for fear of violating treaties guaranteeing the sovereignty of the reservation. |
| Jul 2 - 3, 1990 |
Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie Brown signs historic agreements with 6 tribes. These tribes are part of a self-governance pilot program that would ultimately allow up to 20 tribes the authority to administer and set priorities for federal funds received directly from the government. |
| Aug 3, 1990 |
Congress declares November as "Native American Heritage Month." |
| Oct 4, 1990 |
Congress passes the Native American Environmental Regulatory Act. The act serves to reinforce and clarify the authority of the federal government to protect areas of environmental concern in Native American country. |
| Oct 30, 1990 |
Congress passes the Native American Languages Act. The act is designed to preserve, protect and promote the practice and development of Native American languages. This legislation is important because in the past, the federal government has tried to destroy Native American languages. It is estimated that more than half of all Native American languages are now extinct. Approximately 250 Native American languages remain in existence, although some are spoken by only a few individuals. |
| Nov 16, 1990 |
Acknowledging the wishes of individual tribes and national and local Native American organizations, Congress passes the Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The act provides for the protection of Native American grave sites and the repatriation of Native American remains and cultural artifacts to tribes. |
| Nov 28, 1990 |
The Native American Child Protection and Family Abuse Prevention Act requires tribes to report abusive situations and to establish tribal programs to treat and prevent future abuse. Historically a rare problem, child abuse is being experienced increasingly on tribal reservations. |
| Nov 29, 1990 |
The Native American Arts and Crafts Act is established to prevent manufacture and sale of counterfeit Native American arts and crafts. With the increase in value of tribal artwork and jewelry, tribal artists face competition from non-Native American machine-manufactured artworks. |
| Dec 29, 1990 |
Approximately 400 people attend the centennial of the Wounded Knee massacre. On October 19 the US House of Representatives provided the final approval needed for a resolution expressing "deep regret" over the 7th Cavalry's massacre on the Pine Ridge reservation. |
| Feb 1991 |
President Bush's proposed budget includes $16.3 million for a new National Museum of the Native American at the Smithsonian Institute. The budget also includes money for improving education for Native Americans. |
| Mar 1991 |
Alaskan Eskimos and Native Americans, as well as many environmentalists and legislators, oppose proposals by Alaskan Governor Hickel to drill for oil in federally protected land, and to build an $11 billion natural gas pipeline down the length of Alaska, an oceanic pipeline to transport fresh water from the state's rivers to California and roads and railroads through remote areas. |
| Mar 5, 1991 |
The Smithsonian Institute's new Museum of the Native American adopts a new policy of returning Native American artifacts. It will respond to all formal requests for the return of funeral objects, communally owned Native American property, ceremonial or religious objects and objects obtained illegally by the museum. Native American groups had been pressing for several years for the return of artifacts from museums and universities. |
| Mar 13, 1991 |
Alaskan tribal leaders are angered by the secrecy of a plea agreement signed by Exxon Corp. with the Alaskan and federal governments. They feel that their own interests have not been served by the agreement. |
| May 24, 1991 |
Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. approves a request from the Mashantucket Pequot Native American tribe to operate an gambling casino on its reservation near New London, Connecticut. This was done despite objections by Connecticut officials because Connecticut allows gambling in so-called "Las Vegas Nights" for charities and the 1988 Native American Gaming Regulatory Act gives Native Americans the right to operate gambling facilities on their reservations if such activity is legal in the state. |
| May 24, 1991 |
Native American tribes in California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota have also negotiated to establish gambling facilities on their reservations. |
| Jun 14, 1991 |
President Bush issues his policy statement on Native Americans in which he reaffirms his commitment to a government-to-government relationship between the federal government and the Native Americans. |
| Oct 1991 |
Protests occur before the World Series games in Atlanta, Georgia and Minneapolis, Minnesota over the use by Atlanta Braves baseball fans of the cheer known as the "Tomahawk Chop." Native Americans claim the cheer and the name "Braves" are disrespectful to Native Americans. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Native American groups have been successful in having Native American nicknames of many college athletic teams changed. Efforts continue throughout the period covered by this chronology to have several professional teams change their nicknames. |
| Oct 13, 1991 |
A US district court judge orders tribal police on the Shoshone-Bannock Fort Hall Native American Reservation to allow a truck carrying nuclear fuel to cross the reservation on its way to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Tribal police had stopped the truck citing a tribal ban on shipping nuclear wastes across the reservation. The state of Idaho had banned the shipments but were overruled by federal courts. |
| Oct 28, 1991 |
Congress passes the Criminal Jurisdiction Act. The act establishes that Native American tribes have the power to exercise criminal jurisdiction (to arrest and prosecute for crimes) Native American people on Native American reservations. Native American groups have been fighting for several years to be able to arrest and try in tribal courts all Native Americans and non-Native Americans who commit crimes on reservations. Several court cases have denied Native Americans the right to try non-Native Americans, making it difficult for tribal governments to control their reservations. |
| Nov 26, 1991 |
At the request of Native American groups and after considerable debate, Congress renames Custer Battlefield National Monument to Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument. |
| Mar 24, 1992 |
According to a survey commissioned by the Native American Health Service, Native American teens are more likely to commit suicide than other US teens. The survey also found: 11% of native teens reported that at least one of their parents are dead as compared to 5% of white teens; 46% say they live in a household with both of their parents as compared with 77% of white teens; 22% of 12th-grade native girls report being the victims of sexual abuse as compared with 19% of white teens; and while the figures for alcohol abuse for 12th-graders are similar for native and white teens, 9% of native 8th-graders drink regularly as opposed to 5% of white 8th-graders. |
| Apr 2, 1992 |
Casino owner Donald Trump files a civil lawsuit against the federal government claiming that it is violating his rights by allowing Native Americans to open casinos. The suit maintains that the Native American Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 gave "a very limited class of citizens" preferential treatment in the obtaining of casino licenses. |
| May 27, 1992 |
Former Navajo tribal chairman Peter Macdonald is convicted of 16 federal charges of taking bribes and kickbacks to aid businessmen in gaining control of a reservation computer company. He is already serving an almost 6-year sentence in tribal prison for similar convictions. |
| Jun 16, 1992 |
President Bush vetoes a bill that would allow Sioux Native American tribes in South Dakota to sue for a bigger portion of federal funding for their land. |
| Sep 1992 |
Inupiat Eskimos in the village of Point Hope in northern Alaska blame a concealed government atomic-waste dump for the high incidence of cancer in their community. These allegations are made in the wake of a discovery that the now-defunct US Atomic Energy Commission in 1962 had buried contaminated soil from nuclear experiments in an area that later became a hunting ground. |
| Oct 7, 1992 |
Congress passes a bill to expand and reauthorize, through fiscal year 2000, Native American health-care programs. The legislation strengthens federal programs against substance abuse on reservations, increases Native American health facilities and encourages Native Americans to enter health-care professions. |
| Nov 1992 |
Colorado elects Ben Nighthorse Campbell to the US Senate. Campbell is the second Native American to serve in the Senate and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1987. |
| Nov 25, 1992 |
The US Interior Department announces the tentative approval of an agreement that would cede more than 500,000 acres of federal, state and private land in Arizona to the Hopi tribe. This agreement is meant to settle a bitter land dispute between the Hopi and Navajo Native Americans that dates back to the 1880s, when increasing numbers of Navajos had begun moving onto traditional Hopi land. |
| Feb 6, 1993 |
The First Annual Totem Awards are presented to outstanding Native American artists in film, television, theater and music. The event is organized by the First Americans in the Arts, an organization dedicated to encouraging the participation of Native Americans in the entertainment industry. |
| Feb 20, 1993 |
The Catawba Native American tribe votes overwhelmingly to accept a proposed $50 million settlement with state and federal officials in a land dispute dating back to 1840. The agreement restores federal recognition of the tribe which was lost in 1959, giving members eligibility for federal Native American benefits. It also has provisions for tax exemptions for the tribe and high stakes bingo on the reservation. |
| Jul 1993 |
Ada Elizabeth Deer becomes the first female Native American (and the 6th Native American) to become assistant secretary of Native American affairs in the US Department of the Interior. |
| Nov 1993 |
About 1,000 people in Meeker Colorado gather to honor Ute warriors who died in the battle of Milk Creek in 1879. This is the nation's first memorial to Native American warriors and erected by Native Americans. |
| Nov 9, 1993 |
Congress passes the fiscal 1994 appropriations bill for the Interior Department. Funding for programs for Native American education, health care and other support increases 7.9% over 1993 levels to $3.8 billion. |
| Nov 16, 1993 |
President Clinton signs the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The bill, among other things, reverses the 1990 Oregon v. Smith Supreme court ruling. (see April 19, 1990 for details.) |
| Dec 3, 1993 |
President Clinton signs a bill that quadruples federal funding for tribal judicial systems for Native Americans. The bill authorizes $58 million a year through fiscal year 2000. |
| Feb 1 - 4, 1994 |
Apache leaders sign an agreement with Northern States Power to negotiate the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility on their reservation in south-central New Mexico. The tribe feels that the economic benefit of the waste dump will outweigh the possible health effects the facility would have on the people in the area. |
| Feb 11 - Jul 15, 1994 |
AIM cofounders Dennis Banks and Mary Jane Wilson-Medrano lead a "Walk for Justice" from Alcatraz Island in California to Washington DC., drawing public attention to native issues and collecting signatures requesting the release of Leonard Peltier, who served 18 years in prison for allegedly shooting 2 FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. |
| Mar 1994 |
The National Congress of American Indians, a confederation of 162 tribal governments and the nation's oldest and largest Native American organization, agrees to support the Black Caucus of State Legislators in their struggle for African American rights. In December 1993, the Black Caucus of State Legislators passed a similar resolution to support Native American tribal sovereignty. |
| Mar 16 - 18, 1994 |
A national policy planning conference takes place and addresses the issues and problems of developing a tourist market in Native American communities. |
| Apr 4, 1994 |
The head of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, announces that she will not seek reelection in 1995 because it is "time to make a change." The Cherokee Nation is the US's second largest nonassimilated Native American tribe, after the Navajo. When installed as head in 1985, Mankiller had become the first woman in history to lead a major Native American tribe. Under her leadership, membership in the tribe had increased to 156,000 from 55,000. |
| Apr 29, 1994 |
More than 300 representatives of the 547 recognized Native American tribes meet with President Clinton for an unprecedented 2-hour meeting. During the conference, Clinton signs a directive establishing guidelines for the relationship between the tribes and the federal government and another which is aimed at preserving Native American religious freedom, including the use of feathers of eagles (a protected species) in religious ceremonies. In signing the documents, Clinton emphasizes that the tribes are considered sovereign nations under US law. Other issues that were discussed include: religious freedom; the use of natural resources; economic development; and federal government assistance with health care issues. |
| May 5, 1994 |
About 90 federal officials, including Attorney General Janet Reno and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, attend the first day of a 2-day conference in Albuquerque, N.M. designed to let tribal leaders air their concerns. |
| May 24, 1994 |
Idaho state Attorney General Larry Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee tribe of Native Americans, wins the Democratic gubernatorial primaries by an overwhelming margin. He loses the general election |
| Jun 13, 1994 |
The Supreme Court upholds New York State restrictions on vendors who sell untaxed cigarettes on Native American reservations. Federal law prohibits states from taxing products sold to Native Americans who live on reservations. New York's laws which limit the number of cigarettes that vendors on reservations can sell are aimed at curbing the number of non-Native Americans who buy cigarettes on reservations in order to avoid paying the tax. The case, New York v. Milhelm also affects gasoline sold on reservations. |
| Sep 2, 1994 |
An Native American tribal court in Klawock, Alaska banishes 2 teenagers to separate uninhabited islands for one year to 18 months for the robbery and beating of a pizza delivery driver. |
| Nov 8, 1994 |
Rhode Island voters reject by a margin of 2-to-1 a plan to allow the leaders of the Narragansett Native American tribe to build a large casino on non-reservation land in the town of West Greenwich. |
| Jan 23, 1995 |
The Supreme Court agrees to consider the constitutionality of the 1988 Native American Gaming Regulatory Act. A federal court has asserted that the law is in violation of the 11th amendment. |
| Mar 3, 1995 |
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only Native American Senator, announces that he is switching from the Democratic to the Republican party. |
| Mar 6, 1995 |
A northern Idaho Native American tribe announces plans to create a national lottery that would be the first in the US allowing bettors to charge tickets by credit using a toll-free telephone line. |
| May 8, 1995 |
Sixty-five urban Native Americans walked into the White House to present a report to top Clinton administration officials about the condition of their people. This marked the first meeting of the President with Native Americans who were not living on reservations, and therefore not part of the traditional network of services offered by the Bureau of Native American Affairs. (Arizona Republic 5/26/95) |
| Oct 1995 |
The National Park Service promised to increase diversity among its employees after an action group of them forced the issue. Among more than 10,000 professional-level employees, white males made up 46 percent of the NPS work force and have the highest average pay grade, white females represent 37.5 percent of these full-time "graded" or professional positions, while only 8.5 percent are African American, 4.3 percent are Latino, 1.8 percent are Asian American or Pacific Islanders and 2 percent are Native American or Alaska Natives. White males hold 54 percent of the 15,000 blue-collar positions, followed by white females at 26 percent. Ethnic representation ranges from 6.5 percent African American males to less than 1 percent Native American females. (Salt Lake Tribune 10/23/95) |
| Oct 22, 1995 |
Baseball=s World Series featured the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians, sparking renewed opposition to the use of indigenous references to sports teams. (Tampa Tribune 10/22/95) |
| Feb 14, 1996 |
Kansas City (Mo) proposed an ordinance that would require a fixed percentage of city contracts be awarded to African-American, Latino, and female-owned construction firms, but did not include a similar cut for Native American or Asian-American firms. The city claimed it did not need to do so, since a study showed that the city already made ample use of those firms. Critics said the study was flawed. (Kansas City Star 2/15/96) |
| Apr 18, 1996 |
Congress began hearings on the repeal of the Voting Rights Language Assistance Act which requires counties to make voting information available for populations of Hispanic, Asian American, Native American and Native Alaskan U.S. citizens numbering more than 10,000. (PR Newswire 4/18/96) |
| Jul 1996 |
A coroner in Washington state sent the recently unearthed bones of what he believed to be a Caucasian pioneer to a paleontologist=s lab, only to discover that the bones were over 9,000 years old. After the discovery, a fight erupted between the local indigenous tribe - who wanted to inter the remains in keeping with tribal traditions and under the authority of the Native American Graves Protection Act - and the scientific community - which wanted to further study the remains because of their unusual, Caucasian characteristics. Kennewick Man, as he was known, later led to a re-evaluation of the NAGPA, to allow the further examination of remains in cases where tribal affiliation remains unclear. His case was fought in courts for years. (London Independent 10/6/96 and Anchorage Daily News 6/11/98) |
| Feb 1, 1997 |
The Black History Parade in Santa Ana, California, sparked a two-week controversy between Blacks and Native Americans. The parade had included a tribute to the black Buffalo Soldiers of the late 1800's, whose mission had been the clearing of Native Americans from the West. Native Americans were outraged by the parade, and the subsequent display of a Buffalo Soldier exhibit at the Bowers Museum, and launched protests and hunger strikes. (Los Angeles Times 2/8/97) |
| Feb 9, 1997 |
According to the journal Cancer, cancer was the second-leading cause of death among Native American and Native Alaskan women, and the third leading cause among Native American men. The epidemic had gone relatively unnoticed because of native preoccupation with other health problems, such as alcoholism, suicide and infant mortality, but researchers also pointed out that increased life spans and changes in native diets also meant that Native Americans were living long enough to be at risk for cancer - unlike in other decades. (Buffalo News 2/9/97) |
| Mar 24, 1997 |
At least 3000 Native Americans from across California were expected to protest legal action taken by the United States government against Native American gambling establishments. The government had sought to make a pact with the tribes regarding electronic gaming machines, which it believed were illegal; the tribes wanted more time to negotiate. (PR Presswire 3/24/97) |
| Apr 18, 1997 |
The Pentagon decided to allow members of the Native American Church in the armed forces to use peyote during their services. Previous regulations had prohibited the use of the drug by those in the military. (Albuquerque Journal 4/18/97) |
| May 23, 1997 |
A group of Native Americans and musicians revived an effort to create a monument to indigenous soldiers in Washington, DC. (Gannett News Service 5/23/97) |
| May 25, 1997 |
Production began on This is What it Means to say Phoenix, Arizona, the first major motion picture written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans. The script depicted life on a reservation. (Lewiston Morning Tribune 5/25/97) |
| Jun 1997 |
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rebuffed an 11-year-old challenge by the State of Alaska to the tribal sovereignty of the native village of Venetie, a small tribal community located deep in Alaska's interior. The state planned to continue challenging the tribe, through both the courts and the U.S. Congress. (Christian Science Monitor 6/26/97) |
| Sep 22, 1997 |
After 17 years of protests, the Los Angeles Unified School District - the second largest school district in the United States - changed the names of all the athletic teams that had Native American references, such as the Braves, to neutral names. (Arizona Republic 9/22/97) |
| Oct 14, 1997 |
According to statistics from the Fannie Mae Foundation, of the over two million Native Americans in the United States, over 330,000 are homeless, including 165,000 children; 678,500 live in sub-standard housing; and 793,000 live in severely overcrowded conditions. (PR Newswire 10/14/97) |
| Dec 4, 1997 |
President Clinton opened the first One America panel discussion on race relations in the United States. The panel did not include any indigenous Americans, sparking later controversy. (Omaha World-Herald 12/29/97) |
| Mar 1998 |
The San Francisco, California, School Board debated a proposal that would require seven of the 10 books read each year to be written by authors of color, including Native Americans. (Washington Post 3/14/98) |
| Jun 1998 |
The Little Priest Tribal College graduated its first class of five. The two-year college was one of the thirty-one tribal colleges across the United States. Tribal colleges were experiencing a resurgence at the time. (Baltimore Sun 6/28/98) |
| Aug 28, 1998 |
The Makah tribe of Washington launched their first traditional whale hunt in 70 years. The Makah's petition to resume whaling was backed by the U.S. government, based on an 1865 treaty under which the tribe ceded thousands of acres in exchange for a small reservation and the right to continue hunting whales, a tribal tradition over thousands of years. Animal rights groups protested the event. (Los Angeles Times 8/27/98) |
| Jan 26, 1999 |
The U.S. Department of Justice, responding to letters of complaint written by Native American parents, launched an investigation into whether the use of the names Warrior and Squaw by the Buncombe County (NC) School District athletic teams violated non-discrimination laws. (Asheville Citizen-Times 1/27/99) |
| Feb 14, 1999 |
According to a study by the Justice Department, Native Americans 12 and older were reported to be victims of violent crime at a rate 2.5 times greater than the rest of the population, with one violent crime for every eight people. Among all races, there was one incident for every 20 people. Some crimes were more prevalent than others. Alcohol abuse, poor relations with non-Native Americans, and poor law enforcement on the reservations were considered as underlying causes of the problems. (Los Angeles Times 2/15/99) |
| Jul 7, 1999 |
President Clinton became the first American president since Franklin Roosevelt to visit a Native American Reservation. He went to the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota to open an economic empowerment zone and emphasize the need for investment in Native American Reservations across the United States, noting that while U.S. unemployment is below 5%, the reservation had a 75% unemployment rate. (Federal News Service 7/7/99) |
| Sep 11, 1999 |
Native Americans joined with African- Americans, Latinos, Asian- Americans, civil rights organizations and media groups in a brownout of the major television networks - a boycott by all those groups of the programming in protest of the lack of nonwhite actors and stories on their networks. (San Jose Mercury News 9/11/99) |
| Nov 20, 1999 |
The National Park Service ruled that the nomadic Navajo tribe was descended from the Anasazi, who disappeared 1300 years ago. The Hopi and Pueblo tribes, who also believed themselves descended from the Anasazi and had a historic rivalry with the Navajo, contested the decision as Apolitical,@ saying the Navajo only borrowed from Anasazi culture after they had already died out. The decision was controversial because it laid the ground for future claims of Anasazi artifacts under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. (Salt Lake Tribune 11/22/99) |
| Jan 14, 2000 |
The federal government returned 84,000 acres in northern Utah that it took from the Utes in 1916 to secure the rights to oil shale reserves. In exchange, the Utes would pay 8.5% of any revenue from the extraction of oil towards the cleanup of a waste site on the land, and would allow a strip along 75 miles of the east bank of the Green River, which borders their reservation, to be designated as wild and scenic, preventing certain types of use or construction along the river. (New York Times 1/14/00) |
| Sep 21 - 21, 2004 |
The Smithsonian, in Washington D.C., opens its five-story National Museum of the American Indian. (Canberra Times, 9/30/2004, “Building hope for American Indians”)
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