Working on behalf of his people, Omaha Indian Thomas L. Sloan becomes the first Indian lawyer to present a case to the Supreme Court of the United States. A graduate of Yale Law School, Sloan will later help found the Society of American Indians (see entry for OCTOBER 12, 1911) and offer advice on Indian affairs to the Harding administration as a member of the Committee of One Hundred (see entry for 1923).
Congress passes the Pipelines Act.
After oil is discovered in Oklahoma Territory, tribal leaders of neighboring Indian Territory resist the construction of pipelines to carry the oil through their lands. With the Pipelines Act, Congress subverts their authority by granting oil companies the right to build pipelines on reservation land without their residents’ permission.
The St. Louis World’s Fair features an Indian exhibit.
A celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase (see entry for APRIL 3, 1803), the World’s Fair in St. Louis touts displays of “strange animals and stranger peoples.” Among the “stranger peoples” are representatives of more than 60 tribes. The massive Indian exhibit features replicas of Indian villages and buildings, where artisans offer baskets, beadwork, and other crafts for sale to non-Indian tourists. The star attraction is the
Apache war leader Geronimo, who sells his autograph for 10 cents. During the seven months the fair is in operation, more than three million people will visit the Indian exhibit.
World History
