Reuben A. Snake Jr.

Reuben A. Snake Jr. was born in 1939 and passed away in 1993. He was a former Chairman of the Board for First Nations Development Institute.

A Winnebago Tribal leader,  Reuben (named Kee-Kah-Wah-Un-Ga at birth) served as national chairman of the American Indian Movement. His advocacy was instrumental in the passage of legislation for Native American rights through the 1990s. Snake was known throughout Indian Country as “Your Humble Serpent.” He advocated vigorously to protect the religious use of peyote by Native American church members through amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

Photo by American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation.