Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Irataba

Irataba

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/August 3, 2015 by — Chris Woodrich (talk) 00:23, 18 July 2015 (UTC)



Irataba (also known as Yara tav, Yarate:va, and Arateve—all derived from the Mohave: eecheeyara tav; c. 1814 – 1874) was a leader of the Mohave Nation, known for his role as a mediator between his people and the United States. Irataba was a renowned orator and one of the first Mohave to speak English, a skill he used to develop relations with the US. Having been an advocate for friendly relations with the whites, Irataba became the Mohave nation's Aha macave yaltanack, an elected, as opposed to hereditary, leader. As a result of his many interactions with US officials and settlers, Irataba was invited to Washington, D.C., in 1864, for an official meeting with members of the US military and its government, including President Abraham Lincoln. In doing so, he became the first Native American from the Southwest to meet an American president. Upon his return he negotiated the creation of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which caused a split in the Mohave Nation when he led several hundred of his supporters to the Colorado River valley. Some consider Irataba a great leader who championed peace, but others feel he should have done more to defend the Mohave way of life. In March 2015, Mohave Tribal chairman Dennis Patch credited Irataba with ensuring that "the Mohaves stayed on land they had lived on since time immemorial."
 * Most recent similar article(s): I'm not sure we've ever had an article on a Native American leader on the main page.
 * Main editors: Rationalobserver,, and
 * Promoted: May 31, 2015
 * Reasons for nomination: This would be the first FA that RO worked on to be on the main page and, as stated above, this might be the first Wikipedia article of its kind to be a TFA.
 * Support as nominators. RO (talk)  20:33, 16 July 2015 (UTC), ♦  Dr. Blofeld  22:06, 16 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Comment - Looking forward to having this on the MP. I should note, however, that the text should be one paragraph (side note: we have had notable Native Americans on the MP before, at POTD (Silver Horn. Though he wasn't a chief, AFAIK). — Chris Woodrich (talk) 09:19, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Nope. Silver Horn was an artist, which is still very cool, but he wasn't a leader like Irataba. RO (talk)  15:38, 17 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Support what a striking chap (I made the text one paragraph by deleting the blank line; I know, I'm a copy-editing genius). Belle (talk) 09:38, 17 July 2015 (UTC)