November is National American Indian Heritage Month
Earlier this month we celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Oct. 10), and during the entire month of November we celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month. Since the arrival of European colonizers in the Americas centuries ago, Native Americans have fought for equal rights, dignity and respect. And since at least the early 1900s, Native Americans including Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, and Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, have fought for government proclamation of a day or month to recognize the significant contributions of American Indians to the heritage and culture of the United States. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush became the first president to designate November “National American Indian Heritage Month,” with similar proclamations issued each year since 1994. Read more about the history of Native American Heritage Month here.
As the Reclaiming Native Truth project explains in Changing the Narrative About Native Americans: “Native Americans live, thrive and lead all across the United States. As students and teachers, artists and soldiers, doctors and lawyers, and in every walk of life, Native American people work, vote, volunteer, pay taxes, invest in the collective future of all our children, and contribute to their tribes and communities across the country. Even with such a strong identity, contributions and presence, however, contemporary Native Americans are largely invisible to the rest of the country. Native American voices are rarely heard in the news, in popular culture or in history books, and what little is reflected in those venues about Native issues and cultures is riddled with misinformation and confusion.”
Long-Overdue Firsts
In March 2021, Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico, made history when she was confirmed as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior—becoming the first Native American to serve in the cabinet of a U.S. president. Haaland also made history in 2018, when she joined Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation from Kansas, as the first two Native American women ever elected to Congress.
And earlier this month, Nicole Aunapu Mann, a member of the Wailacki tribe of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, became the first Native American woman to go to space when she traveled on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station for a six-month mission. Mann is a NASA astronaut, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot, and a graduate of the US Naval Academy and Stanford University.
While it is important to celebrate the accomplishments of these amazing Native women, it’s also worth reflecting on the injustice and inequity that has for centuries denied such opportunities to Native Americans.
National American Indian Heritage Month Events and Resources In DC
Check out the National Museum of the American Indian’s calendar of events for activities and exhibits throughout November, including the 2022 Native Cinema Showcase—a free online festival of 35 films (six features and 30 shorts) representing 30 Native nations in eight different countries from November 18-25. Also, the Library of Congress, together with other federal agencies and the Smithsonian Institution, maintain a Native American Heritage Month website packed with educational resources and a calendar of events.
Dr. Elizabeth Rule, Assistant Professor of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies at American University and an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, has created a smartphone app called Guide to Indigenous DC that provides a walking tour featuring sites of importance to Native peoples across the nation’s capital. Just blocks from Hyde-Addison you’ll find one landmark featured in the app, Dumbarton Bridge (a.k.a. Buffalo Bridge), which features 4 buffalo sculptures and 56 busts of Oglala Lakota leader Matȟó Wanáȟtaka. Prof. Rule has created similar apps for Baltimore and for the entire State of Maryland. All three can be found in the Apple and Google app stores, with links on Prof. Rule’s website. Follow Prof. Rule on Twitter and Instagram for smart commentary on politics, art and culture.
Movie Night
Celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month with family movie night. Te Ata, available on Netflix, tells the story of a Chickasaw Nation woman who navigates cultural barriers to pursue a stage career that culminates in a performance at the White House.
