Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Clarence Tinker, first Native American major general in the US Air Force

Clarence Tinker, born November 21, 1887 in Indian Territory, near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, was a member of the Osage Nation and the first Native American to achieve the rank of major general in the United States Air Force.

He was raised Osage and spoke the language.  Tinker received his commission as a lieutenant in the US Army in 1912 and was transferred to the Army Air Service in 1922. In 1940, he became a brigadier general.  After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was named Commander of the Seventh Air Force in Hawaii to reorganize the air defenses.  He was promoted to major general in January 1942.

In June 1942, he led a force against the Japanese Naval forces.  His died when his plane crashed into the sea.  

In October 1942, the Oklahoma City Air Depot was renamed Tinker Field in his honor.  It is now known as Tinker Air Force Base.

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Jim Thorpe: the world's greatest athlete

Jim Thorpe, born May 1887 in Prague, Indian Territory (east of Oklahoma City), has been named the world's greatest athlete.  He was a member of the Sac and Fox nations, and became the first Native American to win a gold medal at the Olympics in 1912, for the pentathlon and decathlon.  His Olympic medals were lost when it was found he had been playing semi-professional baseball, which violated the amateur rules in place.  In 1983, the International Olympic Committee restored his medals, thirty years after his death.  

He was a two-time All-American in football.  He played six seasons in the Major League Baseball from 1913-1919.  He played for the Canton Bulldogs in 1915 and helped them win three professional championships.  He played for six teams in the NFL.  

From 1920-1921, he was the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922

He passed away in March 1953.