Suzan Shown Harjo

She is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate who has helped Native peoples recover more than one million acres (4,000 km²) of tribal lands.[2] The roots of Suzan Shown Harjo's activism date from the mid-1960s, when she co-produced Seeing Red, a bi-weekly radio program on New York's WBAI FM station; it was the first Indigenous news show in the United States.[10] They moved to Washington D.C. in 1974, when Suzan Harjo started working as a legislative liaison for two law firms representing Indian rights.In the 1980s, she was concerned about declining federal support for health clinics on reservations and the adverse result of subsequent higher mortality rates among Native Americans.[9] During this period, Harjo continued to work on issues of repatriation of sacred items from museums to tribes, and changes in the ways researchers dealt with American Indian human remains and artifacts.[16] Harjo has appeared as a spokesman for Native American issues on many television programs, including Oprah!, C-SPAN, and Larry King Live.[17] Harjo contributed to development and passage of federal legislation protecting Native sovereignty, arts and cultures, language, and human rights.[18] She also was involved in working for the 1989 National Museum of the American Indian Act, which authorized establishment of the museum at two sites, at the former Customs Building in New York City, and construction of a new building on the Mall; the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which allows tribes to reclaim their human remains and ceremonial items from publicly funded institutions;[19] and the 1996 Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites.In this and other positions, she has lobbied and helped secure the return of one million acres, including holy lands, to the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Lakota, Zuni, Taos, Mashantucket, and other Indian nations.[3] Along with seven Native plaintiffs, including Vine Deloria, Jr. and Mateo Romero, Harjo was a party in Harjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc., filed on September 12, 1992 with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel the registration of the Washington Redskins football team, as they said the name was disparaging to Native Americans.[21] The U.S. Supreme Court declined the plaintiff's petition for judicial review and refused to hear the Native American group's appeal.[3] She also has worked with college and high school sport teams to eliminate names that reinforce negative stereotypes associated with Native Americans.[25] Harjo worked on the 1992 Alliance, formed to develop alternative ways to mark the Quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the Americas, which Native Americans considered the beginning of terrible times for them.For the first International Women's Day in the 1970s, Harjo wrote the poem "gathering rites" and read it at "Women/Voices at Town Hall" in New York City.[17] During her fellowships at the School for Advanced Research in 2004, Harjo wrote poetry inspired by oral history related to her time working for land claims, repatriation laws and policies.
El Reno, OklahomaUniversity of ArizonaSchool for Advanced ResearchAmerican Indian rightscuratorCheyenneMuscogeeNative AmericanJimmy CarterNational Council of American IndiansPatent and Trademark OfficeWashington RedskinsPresidential Medal of FreedomAmerican Philosophical SocietyNaplesUS ArmyWBAI FMCommon CauseAmerican Indian Religious Freedom ActNational Congress of American IndiansAlaska NativesWard ChurchillOprah!C-SPANLarry King LiveIndian Country TodayWíčazo Ša ReviewLyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective AssociationNational Museum of the American IndianNative American Graves Protection and Repatriation ActArapahoLakotaMashantucketIndianVine Deloria, Jr.Mateo RomeroHarjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc.Trademark Trial and Appeal Boardfootballdisparaginglachesjudicial reviewDartmouth CollegeStanford UniversitySanta Fe, New MexicoUniversity of Pennsylvania MuseumInternational Women's DayAlice WalkerNikki GiovanniUS Capitoloral historyIndian Country Today Media NetworkFirst American Art MagazineWayback MachineThe GuardianMary Kathryn Naglewhitehouse.govNational ArchivesNative American mascot controversyAtlanta BravesTomahawk chop and name controversyChief Noc-A-HomaChicago Blackhawksname and logo controversyKansas City Chiefsname controversyName change advocatesTrademark disputeOpinion pollsOriginal Americans FoundationChief ZeeWashington RedhawksCleveland IndiansChief WahooEdmonton EskimosNCAA Native American mascot decisionChief IlliniwekFlorida State SeminolesOsceola and RenegadeSammy SeminoleFighting Sioux name controversyList of college teamsSports teams named RedskinsList of secondary school teamsAmanda BlackhorseBrett ChapmanGregg DealStephanie FrybergDeb HaalandAdrienne KeeneJacqueline KeelerRobert RocheSundanceCharlene TetersPhilip YenyoContemporary Native American issues in the United StatesCultural appropriationIndigenous intellectual propertyList of teamsNative American mascot laws and regulationsPretendianRedfaceRedskinStereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United StatesTomahawk chop