AUGUST 15:

1812 Chicago Illinois British Indians massacre entire American garrison at Fort Dearborn; War of 1812.  {British Indians??}

1997  Manitoba funds aboriginal health

Bear Island Foundation v. A.G. Ontario (August 15, 1991)
http://www.bloorstreet.com/300block/ablawleg.htm
The longest civil trial in Ontario court history resulted in one of the shortest Supreme Court of Canada decisions. This was the case of the Teme Augama Anishnabay (Temagami Ojibway) who argued that they had an unextinguished aboriginal title to more than 2,000 square miles of northern Ontario. The trial judge found, not resoundingly, that they did have such an interest as of 1763 but that it was extinguished by the Robinson Huron Treaty  in 1850. No one from Temagami signed the Treaty, but it was held that another prominent Indian had represented them and that the reserve he secured was intended for them. In any event, after Treaty annuities began to paid to them in the late 1880's, they were held to have adhered to the Treaty even though there was no written adhesion either. Ontario had surveyed lands on Lake Temagami for them early in this century, but these were never confirmed as reserve lands. In the 1960's a small island in the lake was set aside as a reserve. The Supreme Court upheld the factual findings at trial but briefly disagreed with some of the legal reasoning. The Court confirmed the unwritten adhesion to the Treaty and held that the claimants had a Treaty claim to unfulfilled Treaty obligations which the Crown, as a fiduciary, was bound to honour.

August 15, 1861:  Oktarharsars Harjo, called Sands by the whites, and Opothle Yahola representing the pro-Union Creeks, wrote to President Lincoln requesting the protection promised in their removal treaties.

August 15, 1935:  Cherokee humorist Will Rogers died.
 

BACKGROUND:
 

On August 15, 1935, a private plane flown by both Wiley Post and Will Rogers, crashed just after take-off. The aircraft, a Lockheed Orion Explorer departed and just 50 feet off the ground began having engine problems. The aircraft crashed into the water at Walakpi, near Point Barrow, Alaska. Both passengers were killed. Will Rogers was well known for his worked in vaudeville as a cowboy rope-twirler. Rogers had joined the Ziegfeld Follies in 1915. Rogers was also well known for being in the motion pictures, radio shows and having a syndicated newspaer column.

From: http://avstop.com/news/wp.html

*****

Words Spoken:  Will Rogers (aka "The Cherokee Kid")

"I have Indian Blood in me. I have just enough white blood for you to question my honesty!"

`We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others."

"If you send somebody to teach somebody, be sure that the system you are teaching is better than the system they are practicing."

*****

August 15: Choose Tolerance by Ashley Ball  mailto:aball@myprimetime.com?subject=August 15

Will Rogers and Wiley Post died in a plane crash today in 1935. Rogers had dreamed of flying with the long-distance aviator, and he was ecstatic when Post agreed to take him on a series of flights from Seattle to Alaska, finally ending up in the U.S.S.R. Sadly, their stop in Point Barrow, Alaska, was to be their last: The plane crashed minutes after takeoff, killing both men.

Rogers is remembered as the man who never met a man he didn't like. Seen through a modern lens, the quote seems almost laughably simple. Not the case, though, that he didn't have enough sense to see humankind's foibles. The "cowboy philosopher" saw the world quite well. He was especially clear-sighted on politics, and he was death on pretentious behavior.  The remarkable thing about Will Rogers was that, seeing as clearly as he did, he made the choice to love humankind, flaws and all. "Everyone is ignorant," he allowed, "only on different subjects."

Intelligence mixed with tolerance stands out all the more in our current atmosphere of vitriol disguised as "irony." Johnny Carson had a bit of that generous spirit. Woody Guthrie was Rogers-esque. Garrison Keillor, in his Lake Wobegon radio spots, shows a love for his characters, and he allows them to be wise.

It's easy to dislike humanity because it's not as smart as we are. Today, do as Will Rogers did: pretend it is. You might end up believing it.

Quotes on Government:

"If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone, 'America died from a delusion that she has moral leadership.' "

"The only real diplomacy ever performed by a diplomat is in deceiving their own people after their dumbness has got them into a war."

From http://www.myprimetime.com/play/self/content/play_day_august_15/index.shtml