National Native American Heritage Month

November 24, 2023 – Native American Heritage Day

 

 

About National Native American Heritage Month

 

National Native American Heritage Month, otherwise referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, is recognized in November to honor Native communities in their cultures and traditions while raising awareness about the unique historical and present-day struggles of Indigenous people in the US.

 

From The American Presidency Project, Proclamation—National Native American Heritage Month, 2022:

 

“During National Native American Heritage Month, we celebrate Indigenous peoples past and present and rededicate ourselves to honoring Tribal sovereignty, promoting Tribal self-determination, and upholding the United States' solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations.

“America has not always delivered on its promise of equal dignity and respect for Native Americans. For centuries, broken treaties, dispossession of ancestral lands, and policies of assimilation and termination sought to decimate Native populations and their ways of life. But despite this painful history, Indigenous peoples, their governments, and their communities have persevered and flourished. As teachers and scholars, scientists and doctors, writers and artists, business leaders and elected officials, heroes in uniform, and so much more, they have made immeasurable contributions to our country's progress.”

 

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/native-american-heritage-day.html