DE&I Committee: National Native American Heritage Month

National Native American Heritage Month has only had formal designation since 1990 when President George H. W. Bush approved the first national resolution. Yet history behind this resolution continues well into early 1900s when Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, and director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Rochester, New York began to advocate to Boy Scouts of America. He persuaded them to incorporate a day for “First Americans” to be honored. As this was adopted for 3 years into the national organization, Annual Congress of the American Indian Association formally approved a plan for “American Indian Day” to be nationally recognized. Rev. Sherman Coolidge issued a proclamation for the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day which also contained the first formal appeal to recognize Indians as citizens.

During the start of this movement, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, went state to state on horseback to attempt to gain approval for a day to honor Indians. In mid-December 1914, Red Fox presented the White House with 24 state endorsements, however, there is no records that prove any proclamation was made from this enormous effort. This trend continued with individual governments declarations between 1916 to 1919 on various dates within the year. Most recent designations are where numerous states recognize Columbus Day as Indigenous People Day. Since 1994, we now celebrate the complete month of November each year under varying names including “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month” and “Native American Heritage Month”. How will you celebrate this month? For more information, please visit https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/