A real Indian
Today’s L.A. Times obituary of Vine Deloria Jr. characterizes him as, “…an influential historian and spokesman for Native American rights.” That is somewhat like saying “William Shakespeare was an influential playwright and spokesperson for late 16th and early 17th century European Culture.” We more appreciate the words of the noted lawyer and historian Charles Wilkinson
, “Vine was a great leader and writer, probably the most influential American Indian of the past century — one of the most influential Americans, period.”
While we’re being crabby, we ODDones give the “Understatement of the Month” award to the same obit that describes Vine Deloria Senior
as, “…an Episcopalian Indian minister.” For crying-out-loud (we guess as opposed to “crying-in-quiet”) the senior Deloria was a star athlete who became the first American Indian to reach a national leadership position in the Episcopal Church
.
One of Vine Deloria’s sons, Phil Deloria (named for his great grandfather Philip—the son of General Alfred Sulley and a Yankton Sioux woman) is a professor of history at the University of Michigan. We ODDones recommend two of his books, “Playing Indian”
and “Indians in Unexpected Places.”
As for today’s title, “A real Indian,” well just consider the alternative
