Indian Country loses leaders" /> SPACING="0" CELLPADDING="3" width="100%"><tr><td><font class=headline>Indian Country loses leaders
FROM THE ARCHIVE
SPACING="0" CELLPADDING="3" width="100%">Indian Country loses leaders
Facebook Twitter Indian Country loses leaders&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eindianz%2Ecom%2FNews%2Fshow%2Easp%3FID%3Dtc%2F7172000%2D5" class="btn btn-email btn-sm"> Email
JULY 17, 2000

Indian Country has lost two important political leaders.

Bernie Whitebear, founder of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, ied of cancer on July 16 at the age of 62. Founder of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Whitebear led an occupation of Fort Lawton in Seattle, Washington, eventually winning a 99-year lease on a 20-acre parcel of the land.

Whitebear was Sin-Aikst, a band now part of the Colville Tribe, and was raised on the Colville Reservation in Washington.

Helen Peterson, Oglala Lakota, died July 10 at the age of 84. She served as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1954 to 1962 and was on the Indian Affairs Commission.

One of her biggest actions was organizing a widescale effort to fight termination.

Get the Story:
Activist Bernie Whitebear dies at 62 (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 7/17)
Indian leader Bernie Whitebear dies at 62 (The Seattle Times 7/17)
Indian Leader Bernie Whitebear Dies (AP 7/16)
Helen W. Peterson (AP 7/16)

Relevant Links:
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation - www.unitedindians.com
The National Congress of American Indians - www.ncai.org