Native American Heritage Month

What is Native American Heritage Month

First the History Lesson: What started at the turn of the century as an an effort to get a little recognition for all the contributions Native Americans have made to these United States as grown into a month designated to honor and educate. November is National American Indian Heritage Month. 

One of the pioneers in this quest was Arthur C. Parker (Seneca) who at the time was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester New York. He was able to persuade the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for what he called ‘First Americans’ and they did! 

In 1914 Red Fox James (Blackfoot) rode on horseback from state to state seeking approval to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915 he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments to the White House. Despite his efforts, no national day was proclaimed.

(Source: www.nativeamericanhertiagemonth.gov)

The first American Indian Day for a state was declared in May 1996 by the governor of New York. It’s been recognized in May, September, and instead of Columbus day depending on which state you are in. It wasn’t until 1990 when President George Bush approved a joint resolution designating November to be officially National American Indian Heritage Month.

What Native American Heritage month means to This Family

What does this mean to us: Well, in This Family we are of mixed heritage. By blood and by marriage we have several tribes represented in the fam including Shawnee, Ojibwe, Kootenai and Mohican. We keep our traditions alive by telling age old stories and traditions such as beading, cooking, and dancing. 

Josh has been a dancer and singer and drummer his whole life. In fact, we met at a Pow Wow. Sage and Madison Bella have grown up dancing as well. It’s a great way to connect with our history and the community. They’ve learned a lot about culture, about etiquette, and what it means to be a part of a community rooted in culture. I could go on and on but here’s a video Sage made about her dad for a school project.

Disclaimer: It’s not 100% accurate (For example, she showed birchbark bitings and said they were Mohican. In fact, they are Ojibwe) but forgive the eight year old. She did a pretty good job honoring her family and we are proud of her. 

Josh as Guest Speaker

Josh has given many presentations over the years for scouts, youth groups, classrooms, and community groups. If you are interested in having him present, please CLICK HERE for more information.

Food For Thought

Did you know POPCORN is one of the many things Native American peoples have contributed to our modern society? Yup. There are tons of things to learn and worth knowing. The contributions are as varied as the 500 nations themselves.

READ ALL ABOUT THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF POPCORN HERE

Native Americans and Thanksgiving

This is an article…or five…unto itself. There is a lot to unpack here but we’ll keep it short and manageable. Let’s just take a quick look at the most famous painting of Thanksgiving we have. It was done by Jennie Brownscombe in 1914.

1. The feathered headdresses are of Plains People, not New England Native Peoples.
2. Pilgrims women wouldn’t have been seated at the table with the men, they would have been cooking and serving.
3. It wasn’t a huge once a year deal. It was a day to give thanks and they people, both Native and Colonist, had them regularly.
4. Most likely it wasn’t in November but when the harvest came in so August/September-ish.

So that’s just four points and I have about 20. Point here is not to tear apart this beautiful interpretation but to let you know it’s just that, an interpretation. For the people that were there, it was just part of life to give thanks whenever the need arose for it. The Natives that were present, just as the colonists were grateful to be alive and have a harvest.

READ MORE ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO CAMPAIGNED FOR THANKSGIVING AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY HERE

Free Downloadable Game for Thanksgiving

We believe in that old fashioned notion of communication. It’s how you connect with people and learn things about them, the world, and even yourself. We developed this fun little game for you to download and print and get people talking at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Click on the photo and download your FREE Thanksgiving Table Talkers Game. Lots of interesting things to think and talk about around the Thanksgiving Table!

Native Americans in Hollywood

We’ve had the honor to be friends with and photograph some amazing people over the years. Here’s a few of our friends that are out there on screen sharing their talents with the world and educating people that Native America is alive and well.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month

There are pow wows all over the nation. If you want to see a schedule, visit powwows.com to find one near you.

In addition most local governments have an honoring or some kind of event worth checking out. You’ll just have to google that.

Other ways are to visit a museum, make fry bread at home, try an craft. There are loads of books at the library to get some ideas and Sage and her Colonial Crafting video series shows a few ways too. In fact, check out her tutorial on CORN HUSK DOLL MAKING.

There are many ways to learn and don’t be afraid to do it. Living in a modern society, sometimes it feels like culture is dangerous territory and it shouldn’t be. Yes there are intimate practices that are not appropriate to share, and that’s OK. But there are plenty of ways you CAN experience and learn without getting into appropriation or other inapporpriateness.

We have to learn so we connect and appreciate. After all, there are plenty of countries with indigenous peoples but only a couple have the rich and diverse history of Native America. Seeing as this is a massive part of the land itself and its original inhabitants, it is a subject that should be familiar to all who call themselves American.

How will you honor Native American Heritage Month? Tell me in the comments below.