Vernon bellecourt biography images

In whose honor? We have to ask. Beginning with the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, about 16 million of us were wiped out, including whole villages in Washington, where native girls were sold on the auction block as sex slaves in mining towns, and young boys were made slaves on ranches. His father was disabled from exposure to mustard gas in World War I, leaving his mother to raise their 12 children on government benefits in a home with no running water or electricity.

As a consequence, the young boy grew up on the reservation amidst abject poverty and, like so many indigenous children of his time, he suffered the abuses of boarding school education.

Vernon bellecourt biography images: Bellecourt was born WaBun-Inini, meaning

In response to the injustice of his early years, Bellecourt channeled his rage and fury into a life shaped by longstanding campaigns for the human rights of indigenous peoples. Often considered a controversial figure during his lifetime, he struggled for the restoration of Indian lands and the preservation of indigenous cultures and languages, as well as the respect and human dignity of native people.

Later, he worked to attain international recognition for Indian nations and their treaties, often meeting with controversial world figures including Yasir Arafat, who fought for rights to Palestinian lands and political self-determination. Most recently, he had met with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. He was a special representative of the International Indian Treaty Council and in helped organize the first international conference of Indigenous Peoples under United Nations auspices to proclaim their rights.

As president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, he also protested fiercely against teams with names like the Indians, the Redskins, or the Chiefs. Bellecourt argued passionately that Indian mascots objectified American Indians by perpetuating stereotypes, which allowed institutions to gloss over the true histories, social problems, and political demands of Indigenous Peoples in this country.