[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 165 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14054-S14055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING VINE DELORIA JR.

 Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise to honor and celebrate the 
remarkable life and legacy of Vine Deloria, one of the most influential 
American Indian people of our time, who through his writings and 
activism reframed the social debate about the identity of Native 
American people.
  Deloria was born in South Dakota in 1933 to a distinguished Yankton 
Sioux family. He served in the Marines and graduated from Iowa State 
University. He earned a master's degree from the Lutheran School of 
Theology in Chicago, initially planning to become a minister. He then 
went on to earn a law degree from CU in 1970. He is survived by his 
wife of 47 years, Barbara; two sons, Philip and Daniel; a daughter, 
Jeanne Deloria; a brother, Philip; a sister, Barbara Sanchez; and seven 
grandchildren.
  Deloria began his writing and advocacy work as executive director of 
the National Congress of American Indians, NCAI, in 1964. The 1960s 
were a crucial era for American Indians, as their community leaders 
worked together to combat the cumulative legacy of desperate economic 
conditions, political disenfranchisement, and religious repression on 
the reservations. While at NCAI, he challenged the century-old Federal 
assimilation policies of termination and relocation, and helped set the 
foundation for the American Indian civil rights movement in the late 
1960s and early 1970s. His leadership at NCAI marked a turning point in 
American Indian policy.
  Mr. Deloria opened the Nation's eyes both to wrongs it had wrought on 
American Indian people and to the solutions available to mend the 
disparities. Among the many areas of American Indian policy issues that 
he influenced, he helped to craft the American Indian Religious Freedom 
Act, the Indian Self-Governance Act, and the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act.
  His political passion also drove him to write the transformative 1969 
book ``Custer Died for Your Sins,'' which helped frame the modern 
debate about

[[Page S14055]]

the boundaries of sovereignty for modern Indian nations. The book also 
challenged the Federal Government's unjust treatment of our Nation's 
tribal governments. When academic critics challenged his intellect and 
sophistication, he responded by writing ``The Metaphysics of Modern 
Existence.'' A lively discussion with Vine was an invigorating and 
thought-provoking sport enriched by his extraordinary and pointed sense 
of humor.
  Deloria taught history at the University of Arizona from 1978 to 1990 
and then at the University of Colorado, where he taught until his 
retirement in 2000.
  In 2002, Deloria received the Wallace Stegner Award, the highest 
honor presented by CU-Boulder's Center for the American West. The 
inscription on Deloria's award, given to people who have made a 
sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West, reads as 
follows:
  Always grounded in the stories told by plains and ridges of your 
Sioux homeland, and guided by your vision of tribal sovereignty, you 
have become a hero for the ages in Indian country and far beyond, you 
have changed the West and the world through your activism during the 
termination crisis, your spirited leadership ever since, your vast and 
influential writings, and your encompassing mind and matchless courage.
  I rise today on the floor of the Senate to honor and celebrate the 
life's work of Vine Deloria, Jr. We are a better, stronger people for 
having been blessed with his wisdom.

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