U.S. Grant
![When General Grant became president in 1869, he appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold that post.[1]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/644e60f361ebcb2fe7e05a82/f72aaea1-90e0-44c6-aeef-8b30f63499d5/grant7.png)
Ely Samuel Parker (1828 – August 31, 1895), born Hasanoanda (Tonawanda Seneca), later known as Donehogawa, was an engineer, U.S. Army officer, aide to General Ulysses Grant, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs in charge of the government's relations with Native Americans. He was bilingual, speaking both Seneca and English and became friends with Lewis Henry Morgan, who became a student of the Iroquois in Upstate New York. Parker earned an engineering degree in college and worked on the Erie Canal and other projects.
On April 13, 1869, President Grant appointed Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold that post.[1]
