CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SUZAN SHOWN HARJO AWARDED PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
Born on June 2, 1945, in El Reno, Oklahoma, Suzan, in the 1960s, co-produced (with eventual husband Frank Harjo) Seeing Red, the 1st Indian radio news show in the U. S. In 1974, she was legislative liaison on Indian issues and news director for the American Indian Press Association. In 1978, as presidential liaison, she helped pass the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. From 1984-89, she was Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians. She helped pass the 1989 National Museum of the American Indian Act, 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and 1996 Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites. As President, Morning Star Institute, she fought to remove Indian sports mascots. Harjo also directed the Native Languages Archives Repository Project (2004-05). She received the Montgomery Fellowship at Dartmouth College (1992) and was a Stanford University Visiting Mentor (1996). Harjo was the 1st Vine Deloria, Jr., Distinguished Indigenous Scholar at the University of Arizona.
Sources: Kevin Grover, “Statement from Director Kevin Gover on Suzan Harjo and Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” National Museum of the American Indian, 11/11/2014. Retrieved 7/21/2019, https://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2014/11/statement-from-director-kevin-gover-on-suzan-harjo-and-receiving-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom.html Wikipedia Photo: Uyvsdi, 6/6/2009. Released into Public Domain by the author for any purpose and with no limitations
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