Dakota Activist Maria Pearson: Iowa Time Machine May 23, 2003

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On this day in 2003, Iowa lost Maria Pearson (Hai-Mecha Eunka), the Yankton Dakota activist whose fearless advocacy transformed how America treats Native American ancestors. 

In 1971, Maria stormed the Iowa Capitol in traditional regalia after learning that a Native mother and child’s remains were sent to a lab while white settlers’ bones were reburied. “You can give me back my people’s bones and quit digging them up,” she demanded of Governor Robert D. Ray.

Maria’s relentless campaigning led to the 1976 Iowa Burials Protection Act, the nation’s first law to protect Indigenous graves and mandate reburial. She worked with lawmakers to establish four sacred cemeteries across Iowa and challenged archaeologists who treated Native remains as research objects. Maria became a driving force behind the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law that repatriated thousands of ancestors and sacred artifacts nationwide.

Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria advised governors, lectured globally, and mentored generations on Indigenous rights, education, and environmental justice. Known for her quick wit and deep Lakota faith, she reminded allies, “Our ancestors’ spirits journey with their bones—disturbing them brings unrest.” #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar