John Emhoolah Jr.

John Emhoolah Jr. (October 12, 1929 – April 21, 2021) was a Kiowa activist known for his work on Native American education in the Seattle and Denver areas.

Emhoolah pioneered the Native American studies program at the University of Washington and founded and led numerous organizations dedicated to Indian education and culture across a 50-year career. In 2021, a branch of the Denver Public Library was named in his honor.

Early life, education, and military service John Emhoolah Jr. was born in 1929 in Lawton, Oklahoma, and grew up around Anadarko. A member of the Kiowa nation who also had Arapaho roots, he was given the Kiowa name Pbonh Goot Thay ("Yellow Bead"). He was a descendent of survivors of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. His work in this field began in 1970 with his appointment as director of the Seattle Public Schools Indian Education Program. His work in the Seattle area also included co-founding and serving as inaugural chair of both United Indians of All Tribes and the Seattle Indian Health Board, as well as president of the Northwest Inter-Tribal Club.

He then moved to Denver in 1975, to work for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium on procuring funding to found and support tribal colleges. alt=The exterior of the John "Thunderbird Man" Emhoolah, Jr. Branch Library. The John "Thunderbird Man" Emhoolah, Jr. Branch Library in Denver, Colorado. His national-level activism also included serving on the advisory committee for the creation of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The John "Thunderbird Man" Emhoolah, Jr. Branch Library had previously been named for William Byers, the founder of the Rocky Mountain News, who had vociferously defended the Sand Creek Massacre that targeted Emhoolah's ancestors.