It's Native American Heritage Month!Honor the Contributions of the First Americans.
Many Native Americans celebrate their culture every day. This month, you can too! It is no coincidence that Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month coincide. We often think of the first Thanksgiving as being the harvest feast shared by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people in the autumn of 1621.
But many Native Americans regularly celebrated successful growing seasons with a big feast long before European settlers moved in. It is important to honor the history, contributions, and sacrifices of the Native Americans who lived on this land long before the settlers claimed it as their own.
A Month to Honor and Remember
In 1914, Red Fox James, a member of the Blackfeet Nation from Montana, thought a day should be set aside to honor American Indians. He traveled more than 4,000 miles on horseback, dressed in traditional garb, getting endorsements from 24 governors to establish such a day. In 1915, the Congress of the American Indian Association approved a day to be celebrated in May.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush proclaimed November as the first official National American Indian Heritage Month. Since then, the month has also been called Native American Heritage Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.
Native American or American Indian?
It is difficult to use one name for such a large and diverse group of people. Tom Arviso Jr., the publisher and editor of The Navajo Times, the largest Native American–owned weekly newspaper, has explained, "I... would rather be known as... a member of the Navajo tribe, instead of... a Native American or American Indian. This gives an authentic description of my heritage, rather than lumping me into a whole race of people."
Loriene Roy, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, agrees. "It is always better to ask the individual what they would like to be called," she says. "With over 500 federally recognized tribes, there isn't one term that everyone will agree on." Roy is a professor of library and information science at the University of Texas. She believes it's valuable to celebrate the people who inhabited this land first. "It is important to remind children of the stories and people of the past," she says, "and that those stories and people are still living today."
Ancient Wanderers
No one is quite sure where the first Americans came from. Thousands of years ago, a land bridge linked what is now Russia and Alaska. The traditional theory is that some 10,500 years ago, people from Asia migrated to the Western hemisphere by way of that connection. Over time, the people moved south and populated North and South America.
Another theory is based on fossils, which date back more than 12,000 years, that have been found in Chile. The evidence suggests that boats might have brought people from Japan, Australia, or other areas in the Pacific Ocean. Those people would have migrated north. Perhaps both theories are true.
Native Americans Today
When the first European settlers arrived, there were approximately 2 million native people living in what is now the continental United States. Today, according to the U.S. Census, there are 4.5 million people, or 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, who identify themselves as American Indians or Alaska Natives. That number is growing and is expected to reach 8.6 million by 2050. More than 560 federally recognized tribes exist in the United States. Of those, the largest are the Cherokee, the Navajo, and the Chippewa.
Today, between one-third and one-half of all U.S. Native Americans live on reservations. A reservation is an area of land managed by a tribe, but owned by the U.S. government. Native Americans may face many challenges in today's society. Issues include poor health, unemployment, and poverty, as well as a high dropout rate among high school students. As both American citizens and tribe members, Native Americans often straddle two cultures. They struggle to connect with their heritage, identity, and ancestral lands. Some are trying to revive their original languages, which are dying out.
Prominent Native Americans
Despite the difficulties, many Native Americans have achieved success and made important contributions to the country—in the arts, politics, sports, literature, medicine, education, the military, business, and other areas. Here are just a few:
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne chief, is the only American Indian to serve in Congress. A Republican, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado in 1987 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1992–2004. In his younger years, he was captain of the U.S. Olympic judo team in 1964.
- Notah Begay III is a pro golfer with Navajo, San Felipe, and Isleta tribal ancestry. He has won four PGA Tour titles, most recently in 2000.
- Joba Chamberlain is a pitcher for the New York Yankees. He has Winnebago ancestry. As of 2008, he was one of only three active Native American players in Major League Baseball; the others were Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox.
- Louise Erdrich is a Chippewa. She is a best-selling author of novels, poetry, and children's books. In April 2009, she won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel The Plague of Doves.
- Sherman Alexie is another well-known author and a member of the Spokane tribe. His most popular works include The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, for which he won a National Book Award in 2007.
- Elvis Presley, Val Kilmer, Tiger Woods, and Johnny Depp all have Native American roots.
Vocabulary
coincide—to happen at or around the same time
garb—clothing, costume
diverse—varied, different
theory—an idea or belief about something arrived at by studying evidence
straddle—to exist in or belong to more than one situation
Download a free read-aloud play for the classroom, "Sequoya and His Talking Leaves."
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