Clyde Wooldridge
JIM THORPE HOME TO VOTE ON INDIAN ACT
Jim Thorpe, famous Native American athlete, stormed into Native American politics on Saturday, Dec. 4, 1937, as he once did on the football gridiron. The former world’s decathlon champion and football All-American shifted quickly into political phrases as he returned to his hometown to denounce provisions of the Thomas-Rogers Indian Act. He urged against adoption of a separate constitution by the Sac & Fox tribe, of which he was a member.
“They want us to go back to the blanket,” shouted Thorpe as he electioneered among fellow tribe members for the defeat of the constitution in a tribal vote on Tuesday, Dec. 7.