Thomas L. Sloan
[2] At the age of 17, Sloan and his future law partner Hiram Chase were deemed troublemakers and imprisoned in an agency blockhouse for protesting agents of cheating the tribe financially.
[3] Under the Native American boarding school system started by General Richard Henry Pratt, Sloan was sent to the Hampton Institute in Virginia in 1886, at the age of 23, and graduated as valedictorian in 1889.
[2] Sloan was also a member of the Wigwam Council (a student governing body of the Native American Dorms) and the manager of "Talks and Thoughts", an Indian publication at the University.
[4] Before attending Hampton Institute, Sloan had also spent time enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry and served a tour in the Navy.
[6] Sloan served in the government on the Omaha-Winnebago reservation until he moved back to practicing private law, working specifically on cases involving Native Americans.
By 1911, Sloan appeared in federal courts regularly and also acted as a liaison helping tribal leaders navigate the government bureaucracy.
[7] In 1894 and 1901, Congress passed an act that allowed Native Americans to use the Circuit Courts to claim allotments that they were entitled to, but had not been awarded.
Sloan, H. C. Brome, Charles E. Clapp, and Anderson & Keefe represented 25 cases of people who claimed allotments from the Act of 1882.
[9] Sloan's strong defense of peyote led to some people fearing him, especially missionaries, and some worried that this would reflect negatively on the SAI.
Originally the jury found Black Bear guilty, but his attorney appealed it to another judge who overturned the earlier decision.
Black Bear's attorney and local press give Sloan's testimony credit for being the reason behind the judge's decision.
[10] Sloan was eventually named president of the organization, winning over Charles Eastman and Captain Raymond Bonin for the seat.
[3] Sloan was the Editor-in-chief of American Indian Magazine, and he supervised other well-known editors such as Clark Wissler, Frederick W. Hodge, and others.
[3][7] During WWI and after, Sloan and the other editors used the journal to advocate for Native American law reform and citizenship, similar to the ideas he had shared in the previously mentioned "Talks and Thoughts".
Sloan continued his efforts with the plea that Native Americans did not have religious freedom; this was a claim no other president of the society had ever said.
[3] According to Laurence Hauptman, Sloan was heavily influenced by Dr. Carlos Montezuma in the aftermath of the Society of American Indians.
Sloan echoed the call of other members of the AIF to abolish the BIA and thought that the Indian Reorganization Act would fail.
