Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 12, 2005 20:15:04 GMT -5
Deloria Feted (profile)
BY TYLER HILL
Contributing Reporter
When he returned to Yale after taking a year off from college, Sam
Deloria '64 was shocked to see Joseph Lieberman '64 sitting at the
dinner table during a gathering of the Yale Pundits.
"Joe Lieberman, you're not funny," he said.
To this day, whenever Deloria, a former Pundit, sees the Connecticut
senator, he repeats these same words.
Although his days of "drinking champagne, eating lobster and being
witty" on the steps of Sterling Memorial Library -- the old meeting
place of the Pundits -- are over, Deloria revisited his alma mater last
week. During Saturday's celebration commemorating the centennial
anniversary of the first Native American matriculation at Yale, Deloria
was presented with the first Henry Roe Cloud medal ever awarded. The
medal, which celebrates the enrollment of Henry Roe Cloud 1910,
recognizes Native Americans' contributions to the community, state and
nation.
As director of the American Indian Law Center, Deloria worked to ensure
that Native American tribes, which technically operate as governments,
receive the same federal grants state and local governments are eligible
to receive. Deloria has also served as the U.S. representative and as
secretary general of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.
A member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, Deloria said he has known he
wanted to be an advocate for Native Americans for as long as he can
remember.
"It was sort of the family business," he said.
Amanda De Zutter '01 SOM '06, co-chair of Native American Yale Alumni,
serves on the advisory board of the Native American cultural center,
which was in charge of choosing the award winner from among the
nominations made by Native American alumni. The board chose Deloria
unanimously, De Zutter said.
"He is one of the most important living Indian human and legal rights
people," De Zutter said. "He's not into getting accolades. He does what
he does because it needs to be done."
Some of Deloria's classmates said they remember that as a student at
Yale, he tried to advocate for Native Americans. As the only Native
American in his class, and one of only a handful of students of color at
Yale College, Deloria sought out other people who shared his background,
colleague Tom Trowbridge '64 said.
"When he was in New Haven as an undergraduate, he scoured the state
looking for other Native Americans," Trowbridge said. "Even then, he was
very committed to Native Americans and wanted to get groups going."
At the "white-bred and homogeneous" Yale of the early 1960s, Deloria's
intelligence and role as an outsider allowed him to be more self-aware
than most of his classmates, Washington Post editor Bob Kaiser '64 said.
"He was one of the smartest people in our class," he said.
Although Deloria faced the daunting reality of being one of few
minorities at Yale in the early 1960s, he was well known and well liked
by his peers, Kaiser said.
Deloria was such a memorable character to his classmates that Kaiser and
Jethro Lieberman '64 decided that the title of the Class of 1964 25th
reunion book should be taken from one of Deloria's most memorable
graduation day quotes: "See ya later in life."
After graduating from Yale in 1964, Deloria worked for the organization
that would later become the American Indian Law Center, which at that
point trained Native Americans for careers in law.
But in 1968, Deloria decided to leave the center and pursue a law degree
at Yale. After completing almost all three years at the school, Deloria
made the decision to stop his studies, just because of one paper he did
not want to write.
He left the Law School in 1971 without a degree and still owes law
professor Jan Deutsch '55, a specialist in securities regulation and
corporation, a 20-page paper. Deloria said he considers writing the
paper every year, but continues to put it off.
Although he had no law degree in hand, Deloria returned to the American
Indian Law Center and became its director in 1972. The center operates
out of the University of New Mexico Law School. Its primary functions
are to advise tribes on legal issues, help Native Americans prepare for
law school and analyze national policy regarding Native American
interests.
Stephen Greenblatt '64 said Deloria's personality suits his chosen
profession.
"Sam Deloria is a famously funny and witty person," he said. "He was
something of a clown, but in the Shakespearian sense, because he was
someone who was so smart and so deep that he could see through and play
with everyday situations."
Deloria has not been deterred from Yale because of one unfinished paper.
After a Pierson College Master's Tea last Friday, Pierson Master Harvey
Goldblatt asked Deloria on the spot to become a Pierson fellow, and
Deloria immediately accepted.
BY TYLER HILL
Contributing Reporter
When he returned to Yale after taking a year off from college, Sam
Deloria '64 was shocked to see Joseph Lieberman '64 sitting at the
dinner table during a gathering of the Yale Pundits.
"Joe Lieberman, you're not funny," he said.
To this day, whenever Deloria, a former Pundit, sees the Connecticut
senator, he repeats these same words.
Although his days of "drinking champagne, eating lobster and being
witty" on the steps of Sterling Memorial Library -- the old meeting
place of the Pundits -- are over, Deloria revisited his alma mater last
week. During Saturday's celebration commemorating the centennial
anniversary of the first Native American matriculation at Yale, Deloria
was presented with the first Henry Roe Cloud medal ever awarded. The
medal, which celebrates the enrollment of Henry Roe Cloud 1910,
recognizes Native Americans' contributions to the community, state and
nation.
As director of the American Indian Law Center, Deloria worked to ensure
that Native American tribes, which technically operate as governments,
receive the same federal grants state and local governments are eligible
to receive. Deloria has also served as the U.S. representative and as
secretary general of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.
A member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, Deloria said he has known he
wanted to be an advocate for Native Americans for as long as he can
remember.
"It was sort of the family business," he said.
Amanda De Zutter '01 SOM '06, co-chair of Native American Yale Alumni,
serves on the advisory board of the Native American cultural center,
which was in charge of choosing the award winner from among the
nominations made by Native American alumni. The board chose Deloria
unanimously, De Zutter said.
"He is one of the most important living Indian human and legal rights
people," De Zutter said. "He's not into getting accolades. He does what
he does because it needs to be done."
Some of Deloria's classmates said they remember that as a student at
Yale, he tried to advocate for Native Americans. As the only Native
American in his class, and one of only a handful of students of color at
Yale College, Deloria sought out other people who shared his background,
colleague Tom Trowbridge '64 said.
"When he was in New Haven as an undergraduate, he scoured the state
looking for other Native Americans," Trowbridge said. "Even then, he was
very committed to Native Americans and wanted to get groups going."
At the "white-bred and homogeneous" Yale of the early 1960s, Deloria's
intelligence and role as an outsider allowed him to be more self-aware
than most of his classmates, Washington Post editor Bob Kaiser '64 said.
"He was one of the smartest people in our class," he said.
Although Deloria faced the daunting reality of being one of few
minorities at Yale in the early 1960s, he was well known and well liked
by his peers, Kaiser said.
Deloria was such a memorable character to his classmates that Kaiser and
Jethro Lieberman '64 decided that the title of the Class of 1964 25th
reunion book should be taken from one of Deloria's most memorable
graduation day quotes: "See ya later in life."
After graduating from Yale in 1964, Deloria worked for the organization
that would later become the American Indian Law Center, which at that
point trained Native Americans for careers in law.
But in 1968, Deloria decided to leave the center and pursue a law degree
at Yale. After completing almost all three years at the school, Deloria
made the decision to stop his studies, just because of one paper he did
not want to write.
He left the Law School in 1971 without a degree and still owes law
professor Jan Deutsch '55, a specialist in securities regulation and
corporation, a 20-page paper. Deloria said he considers writing the
paper every year, but continues to put it off.
Although he had no law degree in hand, Deloria returned to the American
Indian Law Center and became its director in 1972. The center operates
out of the University of New Mexico Law School. Its primary functions
are to advise tribes on legal issues, help Native Americans prepare for
law school and analyze national policy regarding Native American
interests.
Stephen Greenblatt '64 said Deloria's personality suits his chosen
profession.
"Sam Deloria is a famously funny and witty person," he said. "He was
something of a clown, but in the Shakespearian sense, because he was
someone who was so smart and so deep that he could see through and play
with everyday situations."
Deloria has not been deterred from Yale because of one unfinished paper.
After a Pierson College Master's Tea last Friday, Pierson Master Harvey
Goldblatt asked Deloria on the spot to become a Pierson fellow, and
Deloria immediately accepted.