October 30, 1925

On this day, hundreds of delegates from 28 Northwest tribes gathered in Spokane for the first Northwest Indian Congress. This gathering of tribal leaders was sponsored by the Spokane Betterment League, a group of white civic leaders, partly as a sincere attempt to draw attention to Indian issues and partly as a tourist draw for Spokane. The tribes erected 88 tepees on Glover Field in the Peaceful Valley neighborhood of Spokane, creating an irresistible tableau for photographers and evoking what a Spokane newspaper called “pleasant memories of days long gone by” (“Indian Horde …”).

The congress included speeches, educational sessions at Spokane’s Masonic Temple, a parade, a football game, and a beauty pageant of “Indian princesses” (“War Bonnets”).