1927 - "We [first Americans].. ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans.

In 1927, the mayor of Chicago, William H Thompson, launched a campaign to "straighten out the affairs of the schools" in Chicago by urging all textbooks to be 100% accurate and pro-American (as opposed to pro-British, he said.) The tagline for project was themed "America First."

Scott H. Peters, Chippewa and president of the Grand Council Fire of American Indians penned a letter to the mayor, asking that indigenous people be included.

On December 1, 1927, the delegation presented Mayor Thompson with the following memorial:

To the Mayor of Chicago:

You tell all the white men "America First." We believe that. We are the first Americans. We are the only ones truly that are 100 per cent. We, therefore, ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans. 

            We do not know if the school histories are pro-British, but we do know that they are unjust to the life of our people, the American Indian.

           They call all white victories, battles, and all Indian victories, massacres. The battle with Custer has been taught to school children as a fearful massacre on our part. We ask that this, as well as other incidents, be told fairly. If the Custer battle was a massacre, what was Wounded Knee?

           History books teach that Indians were murderers. Is it murder to fight in self-defense? Indians killed white men because white men took their lands, ruined their hunting grounds, burned their forests, destroyed their buffalo. White men penned our people on reservations and then took away the reservations. White men who rise to protect their property are called patriots. Indians who do the same thing are called murderers.

           White men call Indians treacherous, but no mention is made of broken treaties on the part of the white man.

           White men say that Indians were always fighting. It was only our lack of skill in white men's warfare that led to our defeat.

          An Indian mother prayed that her boy be a great medicine man rather than a great warrior. It is true that we had our own small battles, but in the main we were peace-loving and home loving.

         White men called Indians thieves and yet we lived in frail skin lodges and needed no locks or iron bars. 

          White men call Indians savages. What is civilization? Its marks are a noble religion and philosophy, original arts, stirring music, rich story and legend. We had these. Then we were not savages but a civilized race.

          We made blankets that were beautiful and that the white man with all his machinery has never been able to duplicate. We made baskets that were beautiful. We wove in beads and colored quilt designs that were not just a decorative motif but were the outward expression of our thoughts. We made pottery, pottery that was useful and beautiful as well. Why not make school children acquainted with the beautiful handicrafts in which we were skilled? Put in every school Indian blankets, baskets and pottery.

         We sang songs that carried in their melodies all the sounds of nature - the running waters, the signing winds, and the calls of the animals. Teach these to your children that they may come to love nature as we love it.

         We had our statesmen, and their oratory has never been equaled. Teach the children some of these speeches of our people, remarkable for their brilliant oratory. 

         We played games, games that brought good health and sound bodies. Why not put these in your schools?

         We told stories. Why not teach school children more of the wholesome proverbs and legends of our people? Tell them how we loved all that was beautiful. That we killed game only for food, not for fun. Indians think white men who kill for fun are murderers. 

         Tell your children of the friendly acts of the Indians to the white people who first settled here. Tell them of our leaders and heroes and their deeds. Tell them of Indians such as Black Partridge, Shabbona, and others, who many times saved the people of Chicago at great danger to themselves.

Put in your history books the Indians' part in the World War. Tell how the Indian fought for a country of which he was not a citizen, for a flag to which he had no just claim, and for a people that have treated him unjustly.
        The Indian has long been hurt by these unfair books. We ask only that story be told in fairness. We do not ask you to overlook what we did, but we do as you to understand it. A true program of America first will give a generous place to the culture and history of the American Indian.

We ask this, Chief, to keep sacred the memory of our people.

Grand Council Fire of American Indians,

By Scott H Peters, President.