Dec. 20. 1943: 1990: Reservist Dr. Yolanda Huet-Vaughn refuses orders for Gulf War, Kansas. She is later sentenced to prison and the Kansas medical board strips Huet-Vaughn of her license to practice, because of her conscientious objection.

Dec. 21. 1861: Schooner Potter arrives at Neah Bay, Wash., bringing annuity goods for the Makah--hoes, sickles, pitchforks, and Mexican spurs--much to the amazement of the fishing and whaling Makah, who quickly converted them to fish hooks, knives, and arrowheads.

Dec. 22. 1830: State of Georgia makes it unlawful for Cherokee to meet in council, unless it is for the purpose of giving land to whites. 1919: U.S. deports 250 alien "radicals."

Dec. 23. 1947: Truman pardons 1,523 of 15,805 World War II draft resisters. 2012: Great benchmark in Mayan calendar: "The Long Count cycle will return to the symmetry of the beginning."

Dec. 24. 1913: 72 miners' children killed in panic caused by company stooge at Calumet, Michigan. 1990: Gulf Peace Team sets up camp, Judayyidat Ar'ar, Iraq.

Dec. 25. 1837: Col. Zachary Taylor, commanding 1,100 troops, attacks Seminole tribe on north shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. 170 troops and 14 Seminoles killed. 1956: A "good Christian" bombs the home of anti-segregationist Fred Shuttlesworth. Birmingham, Ala.

Dec. 26. 1862: 39 Santee Lakota simultaneously hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Mankato, Minn. 1971: Two dozen Vietnam Veterans Against the War "liberate" the Statue of Liberty and fly an inverted U.S. flag from the crown.

Dec. 27. 1827: Georgia passes law proclaiming "all the lands of Georgia belong to her absolutely. The Indians are tenants at her will." In another three years, legislation would mandate removal of all Indians to west of the Mississippi River.

Dec. 28. 1936: Sit-down strike against General Motors begins at Fisher Body plant in Cleveland. 1971: 88 Vietnam Veterans Against the War are arrested at a White House protest.

Dec. 29. 1994: A state court rejects property rights advocates and reaffirms the fishing harvest rights of fifteen Indian tribes in Washington state.

Dec. 30. 1813: Iroquois warriors and British troops capture Buffalo, New York. 1971: Daniel Ellsburg indicted by a federal grand jury for releasing Pentagon Papers to news media.

Dec. 31. 1915: U.S. branch of Fellowship of Reconciliation founded. 1978: Indian Claims Commission is terminated, ending the U.S. process of "repaying" tribes for lands stolen by U.S. government.

Jan. 1. 1994: Indigenous Zapatista army in Chiapas, Mexico, rebels in reaction to implementation of NAFTA agreement. Briefly takes over four towns before receding into jungle and sparking a national dialogue on the future of genuine democracy in Mexico and an international movement against neoliberal globalization.

Jan. 2. 1920: Attorney General Palmer orders the arrest of and illegal detention of 10,000 Americans, many of them trade union members and officials.