Charles Edwin Dagenett - Notable Native Americans
Charles Edwin Dagenett was born on the Wea Reservation in Kansas , and later moved to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) . He attended Carlisle Indian School , and while there served as editor of The Red Man, the school newspaper. He also attended Dickinson College and graduated from Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was a founder and leader of the Society of American Indians, the first national American Indian rights organization run by and for American Indians. He also served as the highest ranking Indigenous American in the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1894 to 1927. Dagenett is credited with creating the Office of Indian Employment at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and successfully employing thousands of American Indians in major labor-intensive projects such as railroad, dam construction and large-scale agriculture ventures. He worked tirelessly among Native American Tribes, using his position in government to protect Native rights and bring employment to reservations, and to generally increase the welfare of Native people overall.
