Deloria, Vine, Jr.

Deloria, Vine, Jr. (1933–  ) Standing Rock Sioux educator, writer, lawyer, activist; born at Pine Ridge, S.D. Born into a prominent family descended from a Yankton chief and a French fur trader, he graduated from Iowa State—after two years in the U.S. Marine Corps—and took a master's degree in theology with the intention of becoming a Lutheran minister. He went on instead to become executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (1964–67), a position that greatly affected his views on the situation of his fellow Native Americans. Deciding to take a more activist role, he took a law degree (1970) and meanwhile gained national recognition with his book, Custer Died for Your Sins (1969), which was sharply critical of white Americans' traditional treatment of Native Americans. From then on—through his subsequent books and in his teaching at the University of Arizona—he remained in the forefront of those demanding that U.S. governments live up to treaty responsibilities while Native Americans be allowed to develop along their own lines.