Vine Deloria, Native American activist/author, 72
James Falcon
December 02, 2005
Vine Deloria, Jr, who grew famous in Indian Country?s public eye for his Native American activism, passed into the spirit world on Sunday, November 13, 2005. He was seventy-two years of age.
According to his son, Phillip, Deloria Jr succumbed from complications of a aortic aneurysm in Denver, Colorado.
Vine Victor Deloria, Jr was born March 26, 1933 in Martin, South Dakota, the son of the Rev. Vine Victor Deloria, an Episcopalian Indian minister, and Barbara Sloat (Eastburn) Deloria.
Deloria had a strong, impressive genealogy that boasted pioneering medicine men and religious leaders. His paternal great-grandfather, Francois des Laurias, was known as a "legendary" medicine man, or Saswe, mostly for converting to Christianity in the 1860s. Francois? son (Deloria?s grandfather), Philip Deloria, would become one of the first Sioux Indians to become an Episcopalian priest. Deloria?s father, Vine Deloria Sr, would later take on the role as well, becoming ordained in 1932.
Deloria served a two-year stint in the Marine Corps (1954-56) before going on to earn an undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Colorado.
From 1964 to 1967, he was the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians.
In 1969, he authored "Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto", a novel that catipulted Deloria further into Indian Country?s public eye. The book, which described the treatment of Native Americans on the part of white settlers and anthropologists, garnered attention from the American Anthropological Association; a panel was sponsored by the association in which sacred artifacts and human remains were returned to their respective tribes. A sequel to the novel, "We Talk, You Listen" was written in 1970. In all, Deloria authored about twenty books.
In 1974, Vine, along with fellow author, Dee Brown, served as cultural witnesses during the Wounded Knee trials in St. Paul, Minnesota. The trial helped characterize the infamous confrontation between Native American activists and government officials at the Wounded Knee monument on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. During the trial, Deloria mentioned an Indian?s religious heritage depended more on who his grandparents had been than on whether or not he was raised on the reservation.
He later taught at Western Washington University, UCLA, the Pacific School of Religion, Colorado College, and the University of Arizona. From 1990 to 2000, Deloria?s career escalated to being a professor at the University of Colorado. After his retirement, he received many awards, including being honored at the 2002 National Book Festival. He received the Wallace Stegner award from the Center of the American West on October 23, 2002. The following year, he won the 2003 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award.
Following his death, the American Indian Movement (AIM) chapter of Colorado compared Deloria to being a "contemporary Crazy Horse".
Funeral arrangements are pending; however, a public memorial was scheduled for November 18, 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara, of Golden, Colorado; two sons, Phillip Deloria of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Daniel Deloria of Moore, Oklahoma; one daughter, Jeanne Deloria of Tucson, Arizona; a brother, Philip Samuel Deloria of Albuquerque, New Mexico; a sister, Barbara Sanchez of Tucson; and seven grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his father, Vine Victor Deloria, who died on February 26, 1990; and his mother, Barbara (Eastburn) Deloria, who died on August 16, 1990.
According to his son, Phillip, Deloria Jr succumbed from complications of a aortic aneurysm in Denver, Colorado.
Vine Victor Deloria, Jr was born March 26, 1933 in Martin, South Dakota, the son of the Rev. Vine Victor Deloria, an Episcopalian Indian minister, and Barbara Sloat (Eastburn) Deloria.
Deloria had a strong, impressive genealogy that boasted pioneering medicine men and religious leaders. His paternal great-grandfather, Francois des Laurias, was known as a "legendary" medicine man, or Saswe, mostly for converting to Christianity in the 1860s. Francois? son (Deloria?s grandfather), Philip Deloria, would become one of the first Sioux Indians to become an Episcopalian priest. Deloria?s father, Vine Deloria Sr, would later take on the role as well, becoming ordained in 1932.
Deloria served a two-year stint in the Marine Corps (1954-56) before going on to earn an undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Colorado.
From 1964 to 1967, he was the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians.
In 1969, he authored "Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto", a novel that catipulted Deloria further into Indian Country?s public eye. The book, which described the treatment of Native Americans on the part of white settlers and anthropologists, garnered attention from the American Anthropological Association; a panel was sponsored by the association in which sacred artifacts and human remains were returned to their respective tribes. A sequel to the novel, "We Talk, You Listen" was written in 1970. In all, Deloria authored about twenty books.
In 1974, Vine, along with fellow author, Dee Brown, served as cultural witnesses during the Wounded Knee trials in St. Paul, Minnesota. The trial helped characterize the infamous confrontation between Native American activists and government officials at the Wounded Knee monument on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. During the trial, Deloria mentioned an Indian?s religious heritage depended more on who his grandparents had been than on whether or not he was raised on the reservation.
He later taught at Western Washington University, UCLA, the Pacific School of Religion, Colorado College, and the University of Arizona. From 1990 to 2000, Deloria?s career escalated to being a professor at the University of Colorado. After his retirement, he received many awards, including being honored at the 2002 National Book Festival. He received the Wallace Stegner award from the Center of the American West on October 23, 2002. The following year, he won the 2003 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award.
Following his death, the American Indian Movement (AIM) chapter of Colorado compared Deloria to being a "contemporary Crazy Horse".
Funeral arrangements are pending; however, a public memorial was scheduled for November 18, 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara, of Golden, Colorado; two sons, Phillip Deloria of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Daniel Deloria of Moore, Oklahoma; one daughter, Jeanne Deloria of Tucson, Arizona; a brother, Philip Samuel Deloria of Albuquerque, New Mexico; a sister, Barbara Sanchez of Tucson; and seven grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his father, Vine Victor Deloria, who died on February 26, 1990; and his mother, Barbara (Eastburn) Deloria, who died on August 16, 1990.
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