Tag Archives: Native American Teachers

OK teacher Harriet O’Leary was the first woman to serve on Choctaw Nation tribal council

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Oklahoma school teacher Harriet Wright O’Leary was the first woman to serve on the tribal council of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Photo Credit: Public Domain

It is not often that I discover a woman educator who has served on a tribal council, but teacher Harriet Wright O’Leary was such an educator. She was the first woman to serve on the tribal council of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Harriet was born on Dec. 7, 1916, in Wapanucka, Oklahoma. Her father was Allen Wright, who served as the Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1866 to 1870. He also served for many years as an Indian agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her mother, a descendent of passengers on the Mayflower, was a missionary.

As a young woman, Harriet graduated from McAlester High School and then enrolled at Hershey’s Commercial School. Later she attended Oklahoma College for Women in Chickasha. Today, the school is known as the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

In 1950, Harriet accepted a position as a fourth grade teacher at Emerson School in McAlester. In 1958, she moved to Springfield, Missouri, where she taught courses at Southwest Missouri State College, known today as Missouri State University. In 1963, she accepted a position as a Language Arts consultant to the American Book Company, where she organized reading workshops for the company that urged educators to use the phonic system. In 1967, Harriet retired and relocated to McAlester.

After she retired from the classroom, Harriet was elected to serve on the newly-created Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Council in 1979 to 1983. This council was the first tribal council convened since Oklahoma became a state in 1907. In addition to Harriet, two other women were elected to serve on the council of 15 members.

For her tireless work as an educator and a pioneering tribal council member, Harriet was awarded an honorary doctorate from Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa. She was also a member of the American Association of University Women, the Mayflower Society, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Sadly, Harriet passed away on Dec. 22, 1999, in McAlester, Oklahoma. She was 83 years old.

 

Native American teacher and author Catharine Brown of Alabama

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Native American teacher Catharine Brown of Alabama published a highly acclaimed memoir. Photo Credit: Public Domain

There are many examples of Native Americans who became teachers and leaders in their community. Some have also become celebrated authors. One of these was Catharine Brown, a Cherokee who, during the early 19th century, worked as a missionary teacher and writer.

Catherine was born at the turn of the century, circa 1800, in a small village in Cherokee Indian Territory, Alabama, approximately 25 miles southeast of the Tennessee River. Her parents, Yau-nu-gung-yah-ski (“Drowned by a Bear”), known by Westerners as John Brown, and Tsa-luh, known as Sarah, held a place of prominence in their tribe.

As a young girl of about 17, Catharine attended the Brainerd Missionary School. Her progress there was impressive. In only three months, she learned to read the Bible in the English language. Then she became a tutor to younger students in the school. May 1820, Catharine accepted a position as a teacher at a school for Native Americans established at Creek Path, her home town. The school opened with 20 students, but enrollment continued to grow, as both children and their parents were eager to learn.

In 1821, Catharine left the school to nurse her brother John, who had contracted tuberculosis. Unfortunately, he did not survive. Soon after he died, Catharine began to show symptoms of the deadly disease. By 1823, her condition was so serious that she was transported by canoe to the home of a missionary doctor. But, sadly, she died on July 18, 1823. She was not older than 23.

One year after her passing, Catherine’s biography was published. The volume, entitled Memoir of Catharine Brown, A Christian Indian of the Cherokee Nation, was widely distributed and became immensely popular. Largely forgotten in the following centuries, Catharine Brown has recently been rediscovered as an influential Native American leader and writer. You can find her memoir on amazon.

Former teacher, veteran, and Senator from Hawaii Daniel Akaka

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Many fine educators have also served as capable politicians. One of these is former teacher and senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka.

Daniel was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 11, 1924. He was the youngest of eight children born to a father of Chinese descent and a Native Hawaiian mother. As a youngster, Daniel attended Hawaii’s prestigious Kamehameha Schools, founded specifically to provide a quality education to Native Hawaiian children. He graduated from high school in 1942.

Daniel was an American hero. He served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, from 1945 to 1947. When the war ended, the US veteran used his GI bill to enroll at the University of Hawaii. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1952 and his Master’s degree in 1966. After earning his teaching credential, Daniel was employed as a high school teacher in Honolulu from 1953 to 1960. He taught music, social studies, and math. In 1960 he was promoted to vice principal, and in 1969 he became a high school principal. In 1969, Daniel left public schools to work in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as a chief program planner.

A multi-talented individual, the former teacher won election to the US House of Representatives in 1976, where he served a total of seven terms. In 1990, Daniel was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the US Senate which had occurred upon the death of Senator Spark Matsunaga. Later Daniel was elected to that position in his own right, and he served there until his retirement in 2013. Daniel’s career in politics spanned a total of 36 years.

While in office, Daniel served on a number of committees, including Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Energy and Natural Resources. But he is best known for his work on behalf of America’s veterans. He supported legislation to re-evaluate the wartime service records of members of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. These units, comprised almost entirely of Japanese American soldiers, were engaged in some of the fiercest fighting in Europe. They exhibited some of the most exemplary combat records of the entire war. Despite this, only one Asian American soldier earned the nation’s highest decoration for military valor, the Medal of Honor. Because of Daniel’s efforts, more than 20 additional Asian American veterans of World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000.

Daniel Akaka passed away after a lengthy illness on April 6, 2018, at the age of 93. To learn more about this amazing educator and politician, click on this article at Washington Post Obituary.

Joel Truesdell of Hawaii inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame

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High school science teacher Joel Truesdell has been inducted into the 2024 class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Photo Credit: NTHF

There are many exceptional educators who have spent their careers working in American schools. One of these is Joel Truesdell, a science teacher from the state of Hawaii. For his work in the classroom, Joel has been inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).

Now retired, Joel’s career as an educator spanned 34 years. He taught chemistry courses at Kamehameha High School, a private school for Native Hawaiians located in Keanu, Hawaii, from 1987 to 2021. There he worked tirelessly to integrate aspects of Native Hawaiian culture into his lessons and labs. He spent the final year of his career at Tuba City Middle School, a Bureau of Indian Education school in the Navajo Nation of Arizona.

In 1991, Joel founded the Hawaiian culture-based Kamehameha Summer Science Institute in Organic Chemistry of Hawaiian Medicinal Plants, (KSSI). In this program, high school students isolated the bioactive components from medicinal plants identified by legendary Hawaiian traditional healer Papa Henry Auwae, who was recognized in 1997 as a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i. In 2012, Joel added a koa reforestation project along with other cultural practices to his 10th grade Chemistry classes.

Joel’s inauguration into the NTHF is not the only recognition Joel has earned. He garnered the National Science Teachers Association’s Shell Science Teaching Award in 2017. He was the winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST) in the state of Hawaii in 2002.

Joel earned both his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and his Master’s degrees in Organic Chemistry, both from the University of Maui. He earned his PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in 1987.

The NTHF was founded in 1989 by Emporia State University. The program recognizes dedicated and successful educators throughout the United States through an annual induction ceremony. Located on Emporia State University campus in Kansas, the Hall of Fame honors teachers through a gallery of previous honorees, a Wall of Fame, a museum, and resource center that records the history of education through antique textbooks and other artifacts. 

To read more about Joel, click on this link to an article about him published by Kamehameha Schools. To read more about the NTHF, click on this link to their website.

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame

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Highly-esteemed educator and author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Photo Credit: SD Hall of Fame

Here is an amazing Chalkboard Champion of Native American descent: Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. Her accomplishments as an educator and author are so impressive that she has been inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

Virginia was born on Feb. 21, 1933, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. As a young woman, she enrolled in South Dakota State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1954 and her Master’s degree in 1969. She then went on to teach in the public school system, first on the Flandreau Indian Reservation, and then at Oglala Lakota College.

To further contribute to her students’ education, Virginia authored several children’s history books and highly-regarded adult non-fiction works. Some of her works include Jimmy Yellow Hawk (1977); High Elk’s Treasure (1995); Completing the Circle (1995); When Thunder Spoke (1974); and The Chichi Hoohoo Bogeyman (1975). In these works, Virginia blends personal narratives with broader historical contexts, offering her readers insights into the Native American experiences and traditions.

During the course of her lengthy career, Virginia has garnered widespread recognition and numerous prestigious accolades. Her honors include the Distinguished Alumnus from South Dakota State University (1974); the National Woman of Achievement Award (1975); and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Dakota Wesleyan University (1979). Furthermore, her literary skills earned her the Distinguished Contribution to South Dakota History by the Dakota History Conference (1982) and two Native American Prose Awards from the University of Nebraska Press in 1992 and 1996. Virginia was also the recipient of the South Dakota Education Association Human Services Award (1994) and the Spirit of Crazy Horse Award (1996). In addition, Pres. Bill Clinton recognized Virginia with the prestigious National Humanities Medal in Washington, DC, on Dec. 20, 2000. She was the first person from South Dakota to earn this honor.

For all these reasons, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1985.