This Day in History: 2017-12-01
November 23, 2002 – “First Native American Travels to Space”
John Herrington, a registered member of the Chickasaw Nation, was the first Native American to travel into space as the mission specialist for STS-113, the 16th mission to the International Space Station. During his mission, Herrington performed three spacewalks that totaled 19 hours and 55 minutes. The length of his mission was 13 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes. Herrington was inducted to the Chickasaw Hall of Fame the same year he went into space. William Pogue, a crewman aboard Skylab 4 in 1973-1974, had Choctaw ancestry, but was not an enrolled member of the Choctaw.
December 14, 1915 - "Red Fox James Pushes for Day Honoring Indigenous Americans"
Red Fox James, also known as Red Fox Skiuhushu, presented at the White House endorsements from 24 state governments for a day to honor indigenous Americans. He rode over 4,000 miles on horseback from state to state seeking these endorsements.He was thought to be from the Blackfoot Tribe of Montana. Although Red Fox James was not successful in his bid to lobby the government to create an indigenous people's day, it laid the groundwork for President Ronald Reagan to create American Indian Day in 1983.