Yvonne Wakim Dennis

Indigenous Firsts: A History of Native American Achievements and Events Yvonne Wakim Dennis

A
celebration of achievement, accomplishments, and courage!


Native
American Medal of Honor recipients, Heisman Trophy recipients, U. S.
Olympians, a U. S. vice president, Congressional representatives, NASA
astronauts, Pulitzer Prize recipients, U. S. poet laureates, Oscar
winners, and more. The first Native magician, all-Native comedy show,
architects, attorneys, bloggers, chefs, cartoonists, psychologists,
religious leaders, filmmakers, educators, physicians, code talkers,
and inventors. Luminaries like Jim Thorpe, King Kamehameha, Debra
Haaland, and Will Rogers, along with less familiar notables such as
Native Hawaiian language professor and radio host Larry Lindsey
Kimura and Cree/Mohawk forensic pathologist Dr. Kona Williams. Their
stories plus the stories of more than 900 other people, events
and places are presented in Indigenous
Firsts: A History of Native American Achievements and Events,
including ...




Suzanne
Van Cooten, Ph. D., Chickasaw Nation, the first Native female
meteorologist in the country




Caleb
Cheeshahteaumuck, Wampanoag from Martha's Vineyard, graduate of
Harvard College in 1665




Debra
Haaland, the Pueblo of Laguna, U. S. Congresswoman and Secretary of
the Interior




Sam
Campos, the Native Hawaiian who developed the Hawaiian superhero
Pineapple Man




Thomas
L. Sloan, Omaha, was the first Native American to argue a case
before the U. S. Supreme Court




William
R. Pogue, Choctaw, astronaut




Johnston
Murray, Chickasaw, the first person of Native American descent to be
elected governor in the United States, holding the office in
Oklahoma from 1951 to 1955




The
Cherokee Phoenix published
its first edition February 21, 1828, making it the first tribal
newspaper in North America and the first to be published in an
Indigenous language




The
National Native American Honor Society was founded by acclaimed
geneticist Dr. Frank C. Dukepoo, the first Hopi to earn a Ph. D.




Louis
Sockalexis, Penobscot, became the first Native American in the
National Baseball League in 1897 as an outfielder with the Cleveland
Spiders




Jock
Soto, Navajo/Puerto Rican, the youngest-ever man to be the principal
dancer with the New York City Ballet




The
Seminole Tribe of Florida was the first Nation to own and operate an
airplane manufacturing company




Warrior's
Circle of Honor,
the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, on
the grounds of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American
Indian




The
Iolani Palace, constructed 1879-1882, the home of the Hawaiian
royal family in Honolulu




Loriene
Roy, Anishinaabe, White Earth Nation, professor at the University of
Texas at Austin's School of Information, former president of the
American Library Association




Ben
Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne, U. S. representative and U. S.
senator from Colorado




Hanay
Geiogamah, Kiowa /Delaware, founded the American Indian Theatre
Ensemble




Gerald
Vizenor, White Earth Nation, writer, literary critic, and journalist
for the Minneapolis Tribune




Ely
S. Parker (Hasanoanda, later Donehogawa), Tonawanda Seneca,
lieutenant colonel in the Union Army, serving as General Ulysses S.
Grant's military secretary




Fritz
Scholder, Luiseno, painter inducted into the California Hall of Fame




The
Native American Women Warriors, the first all Native American female
color guard




Lori
Arviso Alvord, the first Navajo woman to become a board-certified
surgeon




Kay
"Kaibah" C. Bennett, Navajo, teacher, author, and the first
woman to run for the presidency of the Navajo Nation




Sandra
Sunrising Osawa, Makah Indian Nation, the first Native American to
have a series on commercial television




The
Choctaw people's 1847 donation to aid the Irish people suffering
from the great famine




Otakuye
Conroy-Ben, Oglala Lakota, first to earn an environmental
engineering Ph. D. at the University of Arizona




Diane
J. Willis, Kiowa, former President of the Society of Pediatric
Psychology and founding editor of the Journal
of Pediatric Psychology




Shelly
Niro, Mohawk, winner of Canada's top photography prize, the
Scotiabank Photography Award




Loren
Leman, Alutiiq/Russian-Polish, was the first Alaska Native elected
lieutenant governor




Kim
TallBear, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, the first recipient of the Canada
Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience, and Environment




Carissa
Moore, Native Hawaiian, won the Gold Medal in Surfing at the 2020
Tokyo Olympics




Will
Rogers, Cherokee, actor, performer, humorist was named the first
honorary mayor of Beverly Hills




Foods
of the Southwest Indian Nations by
Lois Ellen Frank, Kiowa, was the first Native American cookbook to
win the James Beard Award




Diane
Humetewa, Hopi, nominated by President Barack Obama, became the
first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge




Susie
Walking Bear Yellowtail, Crow, the first Native American nurse to be
inducted into the American Nursing Association Hall of Fame







Indigenous
Firsts honors
the ongoing and rich history of personal victories and triumphs, and
with more than 200
photos and illustrations, this information-rich book also includes a
helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its
usefulness. This vital collection will appeal to anyone interested in
America's amazing history and its resilient and skilled Indigenous
people.