Events in Native American History
Colony of La Navidad
1493-11-27 Christopher Columbus returns to La Navidad colony, finding it destroyed by the 1st native American uprising against Spanish rule. Taíno cacique Caonabo led his people to attack the settlement after the brutal treatment they received from the garrison who disobeyed Columbus's orders.
Battle of Sorel
1610-06-19 Samuel de Champlain and his French army defeat the Mohawk people at the Battle of Sorel in New France, present-day Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
First Encounter
1620-12-16 Myles Standish and a group of 18 settlers are confronted by 30 Native Americans, which became known as the "First Encounter"
- 1621-03-16 Native American chief visits colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts
- 1622-03-22 First American Indian (Powhatan) massacre of Europeans around Jamestown, Virginia, 347 killed
- 1626-05-06 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape
- 1637-05-26 Mystic Massacre: in 1st battle of Pequot War in Connecticut about 500 Pequot Native Americans are killed by Colonial forces
- 1643-02-25 Pavonia Massacre: Dutch US colonists kill 120 Algonquin Native Americans at Communipaw (New Jersey)
- 1646-10-28 First Protestant church assembly for American Indians established in Massachusetts
- 1675-06-20 Abenaki, Massachusetts, Mohegan and Wampanoag Native Americans form anti-English front under Metacom
- 1677-05-29 Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and local Native Americans
- 1690-02-08 French and Native American troops attack and destroy Schenectady settlement in New York Province, either killing or capturing its inhabitants, revenge for the Lachine massacre
- 1701-08-01 Huron chief Kondiaronk urges First Nations people to sign a peace settlement with France, dies the next day - results in The Great Peace of Montreal
- 1760-02-16 Native American hostages killed in Fort Prince George, South Carolina
- 1764-11-16 Native Americans surrender to British in Indian War of Chief Pontiac
Visit by Mohawk Leader
1775-11-11 Mohawk military leader Joseph Brant goes to London to solicit more support from the government and to persuade the Crown to address past Mohawk land grievances in exchange for their participation as allies in the impending war
- 1782-03-08 Gnadenhutten Massacre - Ohio militia kills 90 Native American
Battle of Fallen Timbers
1794-08-20 Battle of Fallen Timbers: Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeats a joint British-Native American force at Fallen Timbers, Ohio in the final battle of the Northwest Indian War
Battle of Tippecanoe
1811-11-07 Battle of Tippecanoe: General William Henry Harrison defeats the Native Americans of the Tecumesh Confederation
Brownstone Creek Ambush
1812-08-05 War of 1812: Tecumseh's Native American force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat
- 1812-08-16 General Hull surrenders Detroit and Michigan territory to British forces under the command of Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who capture Fort Detroit with the help of Indigenous warriors led by Tecumseh
- 1813-10-05 Battle of the Thames; American forces under General William Henry Harrison defeat Tecumseh's Confederacy and their British allies led by Henry Procter near Chatham, Upper Canada
First Seminole War
1818-04-07 General Andrew Jackson conquers Spanish Fort San Marcos (St Marks), in Spanish Florida during his pursuit of the Native American Seminole Tribe, in what would become known as the First Seminole War
- 1822-02-09 American Indian Society organizes
- 1828-02-21 1st American Indian newspaper in US, "Cherokee Phoenix", published
- 1830-07-15 Indian tribes, Sioux, Sauk & Fox, sign fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien giving the US most of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri
- 1832-06-16 Battle of Kellogg's Grove, Illinois - Illinois militia fight small force of Native Americans
- 1832-08-02 Battle of Bad Axe, Wisconsin: 1,300 Illinois militia defeat Sauk & Fox Native Americans ending the Black Hawk War in the US
- 1835-02-24 Siwinowe Kesibwi (Shawnee Sun) is 1st Indian language monthly magazine
- 1835-12-28 Second Seminole War between United States and Native Americans begins with the Dade Massacre in Sumter County, Florida; Senminole fighters kill nearly all 110 of US Army troops under Major Francis Langhorne Dade [1] [2]
- 1851-07-23 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux signed by Sioux Indians and US
- 1855-09-03 Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William S. Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village, killing 100 men, women, and children.
- 1861-08-12 Skirmish at Texas - rebels are attacked by Apache Indians
- 1862-08-18 Sioux Indians begin uprising in Minnesota (it is later crushed)
- 1862-08-22 Santee Sioux indian attack Fort Ridgely
Lincoln Orders Santee Sioux Hanged
1862-12-06 US President Abraham Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
- 1863-01-29 Bear River Massacre: American soldiers slaughter hundreds of Native Americans at the confluence of the Bear River and Beaver Creek in present day Idaho
- 1863-07-30 Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah
- 1864-11-29 Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado militia kills about 150 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians including Cheyenne chief One-Eye
- 1865-10-14 Cheyennes & Arapahos sign "peace treaty" then chased out Colorado
- 1866-12-21 Fetterman Massacre: Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians kill all 81 US Army soldiers, the worst military disaster suffered by the U.S. Army on the Great Plains at the time
Battle of Washita River
1868-11-27 Battle at Washita River, Oklahoma. General George A. Custer attacks group of Native American Indians, their chief Black Kettle dies in the attack
Grant Meets Red Cloud
1870-06-09 US President Ulysses S. Grant meets with Sioux Chief Red Cloud at The White House in Washington, D.C.
- 1871-04-30 The Camp Grant Massacre of Apache Indians in Arizona Territory is committed by white and Mexican adventurers, 144 die
Salt Creek Massacre
1871-05-18 Warren Wagon Train raid: Native American Comanche and Kiowa warriors attack a corn train led by Henry Warren near Graham, Texas, killing 7 waggoners. William T. Sherman pursues and captures 3 leaders, Satanta (White Bear), Satank (Sitting Bear) and Addo-eta ( Big Tree).
- 1872-11-29 Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River
- 1873-08-04 Indian Wars: whilst protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, US 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, clashes for the 1st time with the Sioux near the Tongue River. 1 man killed on each side.
- 1873-10-03 Modoc tribe Chief Kintpuash (also known as Captain Jack), the only Native American leader ever charged with war crimes, hanged by US Army at Fort Klamath, Oregon
- 1876-01-31 The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations
- 1876-03-17 General Crook destroy Cheyennes & Oglala-Sioux Indian camps
Battle of the Little Bighorn
1876-06-25 Battle of the Little Bighorn: US 7th Cavalry under Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in what has become famously known as "Custer's Last Stand"
- 1876-11-25 Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.
- 1877-01-08 Crazy Horse and his Sioux warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).
Sitting Bull Heads for Canada
1877-05-05 Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles
Battle of White Bird Canyon
1877-06-17 Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon - the Nez Perce defeat the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory
- 1877-08-22 800 Nez Perce Native Americans fleeing the US army attempting to reach Canada, retreat into Yellowstone National Park
- 1879-01-09 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Ft Robinson
- 1880-10-15 Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists
- 1881-07-20 Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull, surrenders to US federal troops
- 1883-11-03 US Supreme Court decides federal courts have no jurisdiction over Native American tribal Council (Ex parte Crow Dog)
Geronimo Surrenders
1886-09-04 Apache Chief Geronimo surrenders ending last major US-Indian war
- 1887-02-08 The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe were granted United States citizenship.
- 1890-02-10 Around 11 million acres ceded to US by Sioux Indians, then opened for settlement
Wounded Knee Massacre
1890-12-29 US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota
- 1894-08-16 Indian chiefs from the Sioux & Onondaga tribes met to urge their people to renounce Christianity & return to their old Indian faith
First Native American Senator
1907-01-29 Republican Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the 1st Native American US Senator
- 1911-08-29 Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California.
- 1916-05-13 1st observance of Indian (Native American) Day
- 1916-09-27 1st Native American Day celebrated, honoring American Indians
1st African-American Female Pilot
1921-06-15 Bessie Coleman earns her pilot license in France becoming the 1st African-American woman and Native American to hold one
Indian Citizenship Act
1924-06-02 President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act (also known as Snyder Act), declaring all Native Americans to be American citizens [1]
- 1929-03-04 Republican Charles Curtis becomes the 1st Native American to be Vice President of the United States
Event of Interest
1969-11-20 Alcatraz Island off San Francisco is seized by militant Native Americans, inspiring Wilma Mankiller to become involved
- 1973-02-27 American Indian Movement occupy Wounded Knee in South Dakota
Academy Awards
1973-03-27 45th Academy Awards: "The Godfather", Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win; Brando declines the Oscar for Best Actor to protest Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in film, in a speech by activist Sacheen Littlefeather [1]
Wounded Knee Occupation Ends
1973-05-08 Wounded Knee Occupation ends after 10 weeks as 200 Oglala Lakota of the American Indian Movement surrender the South Dakota hamlet
- 1975-06-26 Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
- 1977-09-20 Russell Means addresses the UNHCR in Geneva: criticizes the United States, describing Native Americans as "people who live in the belly of the monster"
Beatification
1980-06-22 Pope John Paul II beatifies Kateri Tekakwitha, making her the 1st Native American to be beatified
- 1981-10-14 Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges U.S. government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner
- 1986-05-06 Donald E Pelotte becomes 1st native American bishop
- 1990-07-11 Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins between Mohawk people and town of Oka
- 1994-10-29 National Museum of American Indian joins the Smithsonian Institution and moves to the George Gustav Heye Center in Lower Manhattan (NYC) [1]
Clinton Honors Lewis and Clark Expedition
2001-01-17 President Clinton honors Lewis and Clark Expedition, posthumously raises William Clark's rank from Lieutenant to Captain, makes Honorary Sergeant Shoshone female guide Sacagawea, and York, enslaved by William Clark, who assisted expedition
- 2007-12-17 Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States
- 2007-12-19 The Lakotah people, a Native American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States. Establish the Republic of Lakotah, as a separate country.
Canonization
2012-10-21 Kateri Tekakwitha canonized as the 1st Native American saint by Pope Benedict XVI
- 2015-07-08 The NFL's Washington Redskins have their trademark vacated on the grounds it may cause offence to native Americans
Event of Interest
2015-08-31 President Obama officially re-designates Alaska’s Mt. McKinley as Denali, its native American name
- 2016-12-03 US army decides it will not allow an oil pipeline to be built in North Dakota, after months of protests by The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
- 2018-01-03 Previously unknown ancient Beringians group of people unearthed in Alaska, earliest known Native Americans at 11,500 years old
- 2018-11-06 Sharice Davids (Kansas) and Deb Haaland (New Mexico) are the first Native American women to be elected to the US House of Representatives
- 2018-12-04 Research published in "Nature" and "Science" claims Native Americans had just one migration from Siberia to the New World, at most 23,000 years ago
Event of Interest
2019-06-19 Oklahoma writer Joy Harjo is named the first Native American US Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress
- 2019-10-27 Wes Studi is the first Native American actor to receive an Oscar, an honorary award for career achievement
- 2021-03-15 Deb Haaland confirmed as US Secretary of the Interior by the Senate, 1st Native American to lead a cabinet agency
- 2021-11-21 "Voiceless Mass" by Raven Chacon, premieres at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee - first work by an Native American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music [1]
Charles Curtis
Chief Joseph
Crazy Horse
Geronimo
Jim Thorpe
Joseph Brant