international level boxing championships: Chester L. Ellis (Seneca). 1940s 1941 First Native American commissioned in the American Chaplain Corps: James C. Ottipoby (Comanche). First Native American Miss America contestant: Mifauny Shunatona, Miss Oklahoma 1942 First Native American to become a major general in the U.S. Air Force: Clarence L. Tinker (Osage). First American to dance with the Paris Opera and receive the title of prima ballerina: Maria Tallchief (Osage). First Native American woman to work for Lockheed, and probably first Native American woman aeronautical engineer: Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee Nation). First Native American commissioned pilot in the United States Navy: Tom Oxendine (Lumbee). 1943 First Navajo language newspaper: Adahooniligii. First Native American venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic church: Kateri Tekakwitha (Mohawk). First Native American woman joins the Marine Corps Women's Reserve: Minnie Spotted-Wolf (Blackfoot). 1944 First Muscogee person to earn the Medal of Honor: Ernest Childers (Muscogee (Creek) Nation). First person of Choctaw descent to earn the Medal of Honor: Van T. Barfoot (Mississippi Choctaw descent). First and only Native American WASP: Ola Mildred Rexroat (Oglala Lakota). 1945 First Cherokee to earn the Medal of Honor: Jack Montgomery (Cherokee Nation). First anti-discrimination law passed in the United States: The Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945, ending segregation of Alaska Natives. 1946 First female elected Tribal Chair in the United States: Josephine Gates Kelly (Standing Rock Sioux) 1949 First Hopi to earn the Indian Achievement Award from the Indian Council Fire: Fred Kabotie. 1950s 1950 First Native American veterinarian: Bernard Anthony Hoehner (Standing Rock Sioux). 1952 First Hawaiian to be awarded the Medal of Honor: Herbert Kaili Pililaau (Native Hawaiian). 1953 First Indian Miss America: Arlene Wesley James (Yakama). 1956 First Native American to earn Western dentistry degree: George Blue Spruce (Laguna). First Native American oncologist: James W. Hampton (Chickasaw/Choctaw). 1957 First Native American elected to the Idaho State Legislature: Joseph R. Garry (Coeur d'Alene). First radio station to primarily broadcast in Navajo language: KNDN-AM. 1958 First Native American to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy: Leo Johnson (unknown tribal affiliation). 1959 First woman president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe: Virginia S. Klinekole (Mescalero Apache). 1960s First Native American pharmacist: Francis Quam (Zuni). 1960 First Native American to own an FTD floral shop: Nunny Waano-Gano (Karuk). 1961 First Native American elected to the U.S. Congress from South Dakota: Benjamin Reifel (Lakota). 1962 First Alaska Native newspaper: