Truman W. Dailey with Jefferson Lee
following the receipt of the Honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree at the University of
Missouri in May, 1993.
Truman Washington Dailey
The following is an excerpt from the 151st Annual Spring Commencement (May 1993) at the University of Missiouri-Columbia that presented the late Truman Washington Dailey with a Doctor of Humane letters.
"....Dailey, primary language consultant for the Missouri Chiwere Language Project and a member of the Otoe-Missouria tribe has helped share his tribes culture and language with people around the world. Since 1987, Dailey and one of the last fluent speakers of Chiwere, a language of the Siouan familiy, has been sharing his tribe's language and traditions.
Dailey was born October 1898, in Red Rock, Oklahoma. After World War I, he moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to complete his education. Later, Dailey began a ranching career in his native town where he lived for 45 years.
Dailey testified to the United States Congress twice in an effort to help preserve the religious rights of Native Americans. Once in 1974 to testify about the Native Americans use of feathers of protected birds for religious and ceremonial purposes.
Dailey made a second trip in 1978 where he testified before the Senate Select Committee on Indian affairs about the issues of American Indian religious freedom. As a result of his testimony, Senate Joint Resolution was passed providing American Indians the same guarantees to religious freedom as other American citizens."
A photo of a painting taken at
Truman's place in 1991 -NativeLEE