When is National American Indian Heritage Month?
November each and every year is National American Indian Heritage Month!
What began at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the First Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States has resulted in the month of November being designated for that purpose.
In 1990 President George Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 as "National American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations have been issued each year since 1994.
___________________________________________________________
Are there other related holidays? Yes!
June 1: American Indian Citizenship Day (Granted Citizenship 1924.)
Trail of Tears Commemration Day - September 16
September 28th is Native American Day
October 13 - Native American Day
___________________________________________________________
What is this Holiday for?
National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month is celebrated to recognize the intertribal cultures and to educate the public about the heritage, history, art, and traditions of the American Indian and Alaska Native people.
During the month of November schools and classrooms support American Indian Heritage Month by providing lesson plans to students about Native American history & cultures, activities that involve students in dramatizing folktales, learning new words in Indian languages, and prepairing traditional foods, learning about traditional crafts; all as part of education.
The Three Sisters
________________________________________________________
What is the History of this Holiday?
Early Proponents: One of the early proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian who was the Director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, New York. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the "First Americans," and for three years the Scouts adopted such a day. In 1915, at the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kansas, a plan celebrating American Indian Day was formally approved. The Association directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to set aside a day of recognition. Rev. Coolidge issued a proclamation on September 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of May as American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of American Indians as citizens.
The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state to state, seeking approval for a day to honor American Indians. On December 14, 1915, Red Fox James presented the endorsements of 24 state governments to the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.
State Celebrations: The first American Indian Day to be celebrated in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any legal recognition as a national holiday.
Native American Awareness Week: In 1976, Jerry Elliott (High Eagle of the Cherokee/Osage tribe) authored congressional legislation that was signed by President Gerald R. Ford. The legislation declared the week of October 10-16, 1976, as Native American Awareness Week. Elliott served as national chairperson of the event.
Heritage Months: In 1990 President George Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 as "National American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations have been issued each year since 1994.
Internet Resources:
________________________________________________
Native American Cuisine
Indigenous peoples in what is now the contiguous United States are commonly called "American Indians", or just "Indians" domestically, but are also often referred to as "Native Americans".
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Native Americans in the United States...
are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which still endure as political communities. There is a wide range of terms used, and some controversy surrounding their use: they are variously known as American Indians, Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Indigenous, Aboriginal, Original Americans, or Red men.
Not all Native Americans come from the contiguous 48 states. Some come from Alaska and other insular regions. These other indigenous peoples, including Alaskan Native groups such as the Inupiaq, Yupik Eskimos, and Aleuts, are not always counted as Native Americans, although Census 2000 demographics listed "American Indian and Alaskan Native" collectively. Native Hawaiians and various other Pacific Islander American peoples, such as the Chamorros (Chamoru), can also be considered Native American but it is not common to use such a designation.
________________________________________________
Internet Greeting
Native American Day calls for the celebration of the native tribes and their culture that thrive in America. This is the perfect time to send our warm online greetings to your friends/ loved ones and colleagues to celebrate the ethnic legacy.
