27 Facts About Ada Deer

Ada Elizabeth Deer was an American scholar and civil servant who was a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and a Native American advocate.

Ada Deer was born in Keshena, Wisconsin, on August 7,1935, and grew up living on an Indian reservation.

Ada Deer was an active member of the Menominee tribe, which is located in the northeast part of Wisconsin.

Ada Deer's mother was an advocate for Native American rights, and Ada Deer followed in her mother's footsteps.

Ada Deer's mother began taking her to Menominee council meetings when she was four.

Ada Deer felt that she was more exposed to the world around her because of it and it was her first exposure to politics.

Later in life, as a high schooler, Ada Deer visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of a government and leadership program known as Badger Girls State.

Ada Deer subsequently served in Puerto Rico with the Peace Corps for two years.

Ada Deer later went on to become a Menominee social worker.

Ada Deer found few local services in place for Native Americans living in urban settings.

From 1974 to 1976, Ada Deer served as chair of the Menominee Restoration Committee.

Ada Deer has served as chair of the NSC and chair of the NARF board of directors.

Ada Deer almost became the first Native American woman elected, but narrowly lost her race to Republican Scott L Klug.

In 1993 Ada Deer was appointed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior by President Bill Clinton, serving as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1993 to 1997.

Ada Deer was the first woman to hold this position.

Ada Deer was involved in electoral politics beginning in the 1970s.

In both 1978 and 1982, Ada Deer ran for Secretary of State of Wisconsin, losing both elections.

In 1984, Ada Deer served as vice chair of Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign.

Ada Deer won the Democratic primary without "soft money" funding from political action committees.

Ada Deer became the first Native American woman in Wisconsin that ran for US Congress.

In 1993, Ada Deer was appointed assistant secretary of the US Department of Interior of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

When Republicans won a majority in the 1994 United States House of Representatives elections, Ada Deer was successful in preserving federal funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as part of their promised Contract with America proposing to decrease the size of the federal government.

In 2020, Ada Deer was a Joe Biden delegate at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Ada Deer endorsed State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski's campaign for Senate in the 2022 election.

Ada Deer created the first program at the university to provide social work training on Native American reservations.

Ada Deer died at a hospice of natural causes in Fitchburg, Wisconsin on August 15,2023, at age 88.

Ada Deer was surrounded by loved ones, and was remembered as a calming presence.