Overview:
National Native American Heritage Month recognizes the histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of Indigenous peoples while highlighting the ongoing challenges facing Native communities and the changing federal recognition of their heritage.
Nov. 1 marks the beginning of Native American Heritage Month, an opportunity to raise awareness of Indigenous history and contemporary Native issues and to recognize the Native people who enrich our nation’s culture and society.
National Native American Heritage Month, as it is officially called, is the culmination of a centuries-long effort to recognize the substantial contributions of Indigenous peoples.
Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker, a Cattaraugus Seneca Indian, historian, anthropologist, and author from New York, was an early proponent of establishing a day to honor Native Americans. Parker founded several influential American Indian rights organizations, including the Society of American Indians in 1911 and the National Congress of American Indians in 1944. He also advocated for American Indians to receive U.S. citizenship.
Parker persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to designate a day to celebrate the “First Americans,” an observance that took place from 1912 to 1915.
In 1914, Native rights advocate the Rev. Red Fox James, a Blackfoot tribal citizen, embarked on a 4,000-mile horseback journey to Washington, D.C., to petition the president for an “Indian Day.” He presented endorsements from 24 governors to the White House. In 1919, he again petitioned the state of Washington to designate the fourth Saturday in September as an “Indian holiday.”
On Sept. 28, 1915, President Calvin Coolidge issued a proclamation declaring the second Saturday in May American Indian Day. The proclamation also included the first formal appeal for Native Americans to be recognized as U.S. citizens.
Decades later, in 1976, Jerry C. Elliott (Osage-Cherokee), one of the first Native Americans to work at NASA, authored congressional legislation establishing the first Native American Awareness Week, observed Oct. 10-16.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Presidential proclamations recognizing the month have been issued annually since 1994.
Today, Native American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to recognize the histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of the more than 575 federally recognized Tribal Nations, as well as Native communities across the United States. It is also a time to acknowledge the ongoing issues facing Indigenous peoples, including tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, voting rights, health care, education, and the protection of ancestral lands and natural resources.
Throughout the month, Native News Online will provide numerous articles to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.
