Thomas Banyacya was a Hopi

Hopi

The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...

 Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 traditional leader. One of four Hopis, including David Monongye

David Monongye

David Monongye was a Hopi Native American traditional leader . Son of Yukiuma, keeper of the Fire Clan tablets, who founded Hotevilla in 1906...

, Dan Evehema

Dan Evehema

Dan Evehema was a Hopi Native American traditional leader. He is one of four Hopis who decided or were appointed to reveal Hopi traditional wisdom and teachings, including the Hopi prophecies for the future, to the general public in 1946, after the use of the first two nuclear weapons against Japan...

, and Dan Katchongva

Dan Katchongva

Dan Katchongva was a Hopi Native American traditional leader. Son of Yukiuma, keeper of the Fire Clan tablets, who founded Hotevilla in 1906...

, who decided or were appointed to reveal Hopi traditional wisdom and teachings, including the Hopi prophecies for the future, to the general public in 1946, after the use of the first two nuclear weapons on Japan. Banyacya was a member of the Wolf, Fox, and Coyote clans.

Background

Banyacya grew up in the village of Moencopi and first attended Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California

Riverside, California

Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...

 and then Bacone College

Bacone College

Bacone College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone, Bacone College is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma...

 in Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....

. He lived in Kykotsmovi, Arizona on the Hopi Reservation

Hopi Reservation

The Hopi Reservation, or simply Hopi, is a Native American reservation for the Hopi and Arizona Tewa people, surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation, in Navajo and Coconino counties of Arizona, USA. The site in north-eastern Arizona has a land area of 2,531.773 sq mi and as of the 2000 census had...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Banyacya was a conscientious objector

Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....

, who spent seven years in prison instead of registering for the draft.

External links

• Thomas Banyacya speaking live (video)
• "Voice of Indigenous People - Native People Address the United Nations" Edited by Alexander Ewen, Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe NM, 1994, 176 pages. Thomas Banyacya et al. at the United Nations
• Native Americans in the twentieth century By James Stuart Olson, Raymond Wilson,VNR AG, 1984
• Remembering Thomas Banyacya
• Testimony/ Thomas Banyacya Sr., World Uranium Hearings, 9/14/92, Salzburg
• Thomas Banyacya Hopi Traditional Elder