cultivated a silky baritone and outfitted himself in sequined cowboy suits-an image that has earned him the Las Vegas billing of 'The Midnight Idol.'. "Nostalgia fans remember Newton as a pudgy, baby-faced, adenoidal tenor with three big hits: 'Heart,' 'Danke Schoen,' and 'Red Roses for a Blue Lady,'" notes Betsy Carter in Newsweek. Newton graced the stages of Las Vegas resort casinos for decades, performing two high-energy shows per night, seven nights a week, as many as 40 weeks per year. "Pound for pound, day for day, Wayne Newton is the highest-paid cabaret entertainer ever," writes Robert Windeler in People magazine. (The Cherokees originally inhabited an area that is now part of six southeastern states, but they were forced by the federal government to relocate to what is now northern Oklahoma.) Learn More As chief, Mankiller presided over 45,000 acres of Cherokee land in Oklahoma, the state that has been home to the Cherokee people since 1839. Of the approximately five hundred tribes in the United States, less than fifty are headed by women, and none of the other female-led tribes as large as the Cherokee tribe. With 67,000 members, the Cherokees was the second largest Native American tribe at the time of her appointment to chief.
As deputy principal chief under Swimmer, Mankiller automatically assumed tribal leadership following Swimmer's departure. She assumed that post in December 1985, when the tribe's former chief, Ross Swimmer, left to become assistant secretary of the interior for Indian affairs. Wilma Mankiller was the first woman ever to serve as chief of the Cherokee nation. All told, Bench was a pivotal cog in the workings of what became known as Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. Bench finished his career in 1983 with a then-record (for a catcher) 389 home runs. On the other side of the plate, cleanup hitter Bench could muscle the ball into the outfield and over the fence. Although he developed new catching and throwing postures that made him very effective and helped prevent injury, he still played with injuries to his feet, hands, and back. With his keen eyesight, strong throwing arm, great agility, and savvy working relationship with pitchers, Bench was a defensive force who set records for playing a hundred or more games in thirteen consecutive seasons. When Bench came on the Major League Baseball scene in 1968 with the Cincinnati Reds, he became the first catcher ever to win the National League Rookie of the Year award by showing fans what a good catcher can be, both behind the plate and at bat. The name Johnny Bench is synonymous with baseball catcher. Alexie's mission to break down Native American stereotypes jumped from the page to the screen in 1998 with the release of his film, Smoke Signals, based on a collection of stories titled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. His works are also useful in helping non-Native Americans recognize the issues that Native Americans face and dispelling old mistaken notions of who Native Americans are, although his writings are disdainful of whites who claim to sympathize with Native Americans for their own selfish reasons.
However, Alexie's characters are not the clichéd stone-faced people who accept their lot in defeat rather, he exposes the rich sense of humor that Native Americans commonly use to deal with their problems. His works have helped his fellow Native Americans to understand themselves better by honing in on typical problems rampant on reservations, including poverty, alcoholism, and racism. Author Sherman Alexie, using poetry and prose saturated with imagery, drama, and humor, has shed light on what it means to be a Native American in contemporary American society.