Irataba (c. 1814 – 1874) was a leader of the Mohave Nation, known as an advocate for peace with whites and a mediator with the United States. He was a renowned orator and one of the first Mohave to speak English. He became the Mohave Nation's Aha macave yaltanack, an elected, as opposed to hereditary, leader. As a result of his many interactions with US officials and settlers, Irataba was invited to Washington, D.C., in 1864 for an official meeting with members of the US military and government, including President Abraham Lincoln. He was the first Native American from the Southwest to meet an American president. Upon his return he negotiated the creation of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which caused a split in the Mohave Nation when he led several hundred of his supporters to the Colorado River valley. Some historians consider Irataba a great leader who championed peace, but others feel he could have done more to defend the Mohave way of life. In March 2015, Mohave Tribal chairman Dennis Patch credited Irataba with ensuring that "the Mohaves stayed on land they had lived on since time immemorial." (Full article...).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irataba
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1795:
The United States signed the Treaty of Greenville with the Western Confederacy coalition of Native Americans, ending the Northwest Indian War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Greenville
1916:
Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement was hanged at London's Pentonville Prison for treason for his role in the Easter Rising, a rebellion to win Irish independence from Britain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement
1940:
World War II: Italy began their invasion of British Somaliland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_conquest_of_British_Somaliland
1960:
Niger officially gained independence from France as part of the decolonization of the French Community. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger
2005:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Mayor of Tehran, began his term as the sixth President of Iran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
compunction: A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/compunction
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Nothing to be done. --Samuel Beckett https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett