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Native American and Alaskan Native Heritage Month

Native American and Alaskan Native Heritage Month

Native American and Alaskan Native Heritage Month with dreamcatcher

Native American and Alaskan Native Heritage Month began as an effort to recognize significant contributions made by the first Americans, which led to the month of November being designated for that purpose. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Rochester, New York, was one of the first advocates of an American Indian Day. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the "First Americans,". In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association approved a plan to nationally recognize American Indian Day; its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge issued a proclamation on September 28, 1915, declaring the second Saturday of each May as American Indian Day. The proclamation contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens. The year before Coolidge issued his proclamation, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode on horseback from state to state, seeking endorsements for a day honoring Indians. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November as "National American Indian Heritage Month." Learn More

Native American and Alaskan Native History Books @ MiraCosta Library

Native American Languages and Cultural Identity

Comanche Nation performer at Sheppard Air Force BaseIndigenous Language Preservation

Indigenous Language Institute: Provides vital language related service to Native communities so that their individual identities, traditional wisdom, and values are passed on to future generations in their original languages.

American Indian Language Development Institute (University of Arizona): Provides critical training to strengthen efforts to revitalize and promote the use of Indigenous languages across generations.

The Ways: Stories on culture & language from Native communities around the Central Great Lakes.

Alaska Native Language Center (University of Alaska at Fairbanks): Alaska is home to at least 20 distinct indigenous languages. More than just dialectical variants, these different languages reflect the diverse cultural heritage of Alaska's Native peoples.

Navigating Identity

The Difficult Math of Being Native American (NPR: Code Switch)

Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands (from LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History​, a publication of the National Park Foundation and National Park Service)

How Native American Women Inspired the Feminist Movement