Clyde Merton Warrior (1939–1968) was a Native American activist and leader, orator and one of the founders of the
National Indian Youth Council
The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) is the second oldest American Indian organization in the United States with a membership of more than 15,000.National Indian Youth Council, Inc."NIYC History" Retrieved on 2009-09-30. It was the first in ...
. He participated in the March on Washington and the War on Poverty in the 1960s and was a charismatic speaker on Indian self-determination.
Biography
Clyde Merton Warrior was born 31 August 1939 near
Ponca City
Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 census- and a population of 24,424 in the 2020 ...
, Oklahoma to Gloria Collins and was raised by his grandparents in the Ponca traditions.
He was a member of the
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, also known as the Ponca Nation, is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Traditionally, peoples of both tribes have spoken the Omaha-Ponca languag ...
. He spoke the
Ponca language
The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca ...
,
learned a wide range of tribal songs and was a champion
fancy dance
Fancy dance, Pan-Indian dancing, Fancy Feather or Fancy War Dance is a style of dance some believe was originally created by members of the Ponca tribe in the 1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to preserve their culture and religion. It is loosely bas ...
r in his teens.
["Clyde Merton Warrior"]
''Ponca Nation.'' (retrieved 6 August 2009) Newspapers classed him as a world champion dancer by 1957 and in 1958, he won an award in a state-level high school art competition.
Warrior attended
Cameron Junior College in
Lawton, Oklahoma. He earned the Outstanding Indian Student Award in 1962, and he was elected President of the Southwest Regional Indian Youth Council.
[ Later, he earned a Bachelor's degree from ]Northeastern State University
Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1966.[Cowger, Thomas]
Clyde Warrior.
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.'' 2009 (6 August 2009)
Marriage and family
In 1962, Warrior married Della Hopper ( Otoe-Missouria). The couple had two daughters.[
]
Activism
In the spring of 1961, Warrior attended a regional planning meeting at the University of Oklahoma
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
in preparation for a conference to be held in June in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. He also participated that spring in the annual meeting of the Southwestern Regional Indian Youth Council and was elected president.
From 13–20 June 1961, at a conference with over 800 participants held in Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
with educators and anthropologists, and frustrated Native Americans a "Declaration of Indian Purpose: the Voice of the American Indian" – a policy created for Indians by Indians was produced. The policy was delivered to President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, but the youth leaders went on to form the National Indian Youth Council
The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) is the second oldest American Indian organization in the United States with a membership of more than 15,000.National Indian Youth Council, Inc."NIYC History" Retrieved on 2009-09-30. It was the first in ...
(NIYC) in Gallup, New Mexico later that summer, to translate words into actions. Warrior was a participant at both the Chicago conference and the subsequent meeting in Gallup. The founding members of NIYCHerbert Blatchford, Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
; Gerald Brown, Flathead Indian Reservation of Montana; Sam English, Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
; Viola Hatch
Viola Hatch (February 12, 1930 – April 22, 2019) was a Native American activist, founding member of the National Indian Youth Council, and former Tribal Chair of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. She successfully sued the Canton, Oklahoma schools ...
, Arapaho of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma; Joan Nobel, Ute; Karen Rickard, Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following:
First nations and Native American people and culture
* Tuscarora people
**''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960)
* Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people
* ...
; Melvin Thom Walker River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River Reservation, Nevada; Clyde Warrior, Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, also known as the Ponca Nation, is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Traditionally, peoples of both tribes have spoken the Omaha-Ponca languag ...
; Della Warrior
Della Cheryl Warrior (born 1946) is the first and only woman to date to serve as the chairperson and chief executive officer for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe. She later served at the president of the Institute of American Indian Arts, finding a perma ...
, Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; and Shirley Hill Witt, Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
included 3 members from Oklahoma. Although NIYC claimed to have hundreds of members, a core group of ten to fifteen people shaped the organization. By 1967, Warrior was president of the organization.
After the meeting, Warrior was nominated to the Ponca tribal council and was a popular speaker on college campuses. He became the co-editor of ''Indian Voices'', a periodical created at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
for the Commission on Human Relations. Warrior worked to help Washington State tribes secure their fishing rights, utilizing publicists from New York City and Marlon Brando to create visibility, using guidance from his studies of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
's human and civil rights strategies at the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...
.
Warrior witnessed discrimination against Indian people, crushing poverty in Native communities, and incompetence in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He fought injustice and worked to promote Native pride. He wrote two highly influential essays in the mid-1960s, "Which One Are You?: Five Types of Young Indians" and "We Are Not Free"[ and was invited to speak in Washington, DC on how the ]War on Poverty
The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national ...
could help Native people.
Warrior promoted self-determination and inspired many young Native activists during the 1960s and 1970s.[Van de Logt, Mark]
Ponca.
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.'' 2009 (6 August 2009)
Death
Warrior died at the age of 28 on July 19, 1968, due to liver failure after years of excessive alcohol use.[ He is buried in Ponca City. His epitaph says, "A Fresh Air of New Indian Idealism."][
]
Quote
"We are not free. We do not make choices. Our choices are made for us."[
"The sewage of Europe does not run through these veins."
]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrior, Clyde
Native American activists
Native Americans' rights activists
Native American dancers
Native American writers
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma people
Northeastern State University alumni
Deaths from liver failure
1939 births
1968 deaths