𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑠

04/13/2024

06/03/2023

A Chippewa Native American Allegedly Lived to be 137

A Chippewa chief commonly referred to as “John Smith” lived to be an incredibly ripe old age. If you eat a virtuous diet rich with sturgeon fresh from a lake, partake in vigorous regular exercise in the clear air of northern Minnesota, and stay sociable by getting married—eight times!—but never have the bother of raising children, how long might you count your years?

One man lived to the ripe old age of 137, according to reports at the time. Or maybe he was 100, or maybe 138. While his exact age remains in dispute, this much is certain: He sure looked pretty old.

The Chippewa Native American named Ga-Be-Nah-Gewn-Wonce —which translates to Sloughing Flesh or Wrinkled Meat, depending on your source—was called John Smith by white people, according to a February 8, 1922, front-page obituary in the Minneapolis (Morning) Star Tribune

Though John Smith had become blind in his last year, he’d been active—or as active as a centenarian+ can be—up until he contracted the pneumonia that claimed his life. He would walk out to wave to the trains passing through his area. His mind was reportedly, and remarkably, clear. At the end of his life, he lived with a nephew, whom he adopted as his son, Tom Smith, who took care of the old man.
While the day he left this Earth is indisputable, his birth date was also murky, especially at a time when records were scant, especially for non-whites. John Smith lived on Division Point at Cass Lake, in northern Minnesota, where he fished and rode horses, for all but a few years of his life. The Great Northern Railroad Company had a train turntable where they turned engines around at Division Point (hence its name).

John Smith would come out to the trains and sell pictures of himself for 5 cents on which he wrote his Indian name, his “white person” name, the location, and his age. In some of the pictures, he wears a traditional Indian headdress with feathers, poncho, and beads. In others, he wears a top hat or a jacket, vest, and cravat. On one picture from 1912, his age is cited as 128. A shock of white hair tumbles over his prominent nose and face, which is incredibly etched with deep wrinkles.
Smith told people that he’d been eight or nine years old “when the stars fell,” according to a University of Minnesota ethnographic biography of Paul Peter Buffalo, who’d been a child in John Smith’s circles. Some experts pin “when the stars fell” to the Leonid Meteor Showers of 1833, which would put Smith’s birthday in 1822 and make him 100-ish at the time of his death.

At the same time, he also claimed to have participated in the War of 1812, which makes his age in the 130-plus range more credible. A Federal Commissioner of Indian Enrollment, however, said Smith’s wrinkled face was due to a disease, not age. Paul Peter Buffalo reported that John Smith, whom he called “Grandpa John,” had been asked to become chieftan but had turned down the honor because he was “getting too old. He didn’t want to be responsible for anything

How old can a man really live? The oldest verified age validated by modern standards, which requires at least three official documents, belongs to Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who died on June 12, 2013, at the age of 116 and 54 days!

06/02/2023

Tecumseh - Shawnee chief
Tecumseh (born 1768, southeast of Old Chillicothe [north of modern Xenia, Ohio, U.S.]—died October 5, 1813, near Thames River, Upper Canada [now in Ontario, Canada]), Shawnee Indian chief, orator, military leader, and advocate of intertribal Indian alliance who directed Indian resistance to white rule in the Ohio River valley. In the War of 1812 he joined British forces for the capture of Detroit and the invasion of Ohio. A decisive battle against William Henry Harrison’s U.S. troops ended in Tecumseh’s defeat and death.

06/01/2023

Cheyenne mother and daughter. 1907. Montana. Photo by L.A. Huffman. Source - Montana State University

05/31/2023

Native American girl Katie Roubideaux, about 1900. Photograph by John Anderson who worked primarily at Fort Niobrara in Nebraska and on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Born in Sweden in 1869, he came to the New Country with his parents, eventually settling in Cherry County, Nebraska, in 1884. John was sent to Pennsylvania to be educated and it was during this time he became familiar with photography. By 1887 he was working as a civilian photographer for the army at Fort Niobrara, near Valentine, Nebraska. In the early 1890s he was working as a clerk in the Rosebud Reservation trading post operated by Colonel Charles P. Jordan. Anderson was a prolific photographer.
The story told by Nebraska State Historical Society.

05/30/2023

INNOCENTS MAKE FACE TIME ON THE NAVAJO RESERVATION:

Courtesy~FineArtAmerica

05/29/2023

Lakota Chief Iron Tail cranking an early automobile. ca. 1915.

05/28/2023

I am From Texas 🥰🥰

05/27/2023

"The only thing the world really needs is for every child to grow up in happiness."
- Chief Dan George

05/26/2023

Chief White Bear aka Tom Frosted. Lower Yanktonai Sioux. Early 1900s. Photo by Frank Fiske

05/25/2023

In Loving Memory of our Brother Larry Sellers 1949– 2021. Best Known for Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. RNCI Board member from 1995 – 2021.
‘My deepest condolences to Larry’s family. I have known Larry since the late 70’s. He was a dear friend and brother to me. Larry served on our RNCI Board of Directors since the beginning and and most recently moved to serve on RNCI Advisory Board. He was a Sundancer and Chanunpa carrier.’ 🙏🏾 Joanelle Romero.
(1949 – 2021)
Osage, Cherokee, and Lakota. Traditional ceremonial leader, actor and stuntman who played the leading Indian role Cloud Dancing (for which he received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor) in the popular series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”. While on Dr. Quinn, Sellers is credited as the show’s Native American Consultant!

05/24/2023

***WE ARE NOT PRETTY BUT WE ARE ALWAYS SMILING ***😊😊😊