American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month
This page has several articles and many links!
Stop in again!
Proclamation of 2011 is below.
The term "Native American" came into usage in the 1960s to denote American Indians and Alaskan Natives (Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts of Alaska). There are more than 554 federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska native groups, each with their own culture and history. They speak more than 250 languages.
Many Native Americans suggested leaving such general terms of American Indian & Native American behind in favor of specific tribal designations.
For more on the creation of Native American Indian heritage Month click here!You have probably learned to call it "The First Thanksgiving." But is not the right name.
First, the event wasn't a "first" at all. Native People had been giving thanks in this land for thousands of years before 1621.
Second, as far as the word "Thanksgiving" goes, people in 1621 never called it a "Thanksgiving." It was simply a harvest celebration.
NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY
The Friday immediately succeeding
Thanksgiving Day of each year shall be known as Native American Heritage
Day.
President Bush Signs Baca Bill
Creating Native American Heritage Day! This is a wonderful thing that has been declared, a National Day to
recognize the Tribes.
Colleen F. Cawston, MPA, Director - Indian Policy and Support Services
PO Box 45105, Olympia, Wa 98504-5105
cawstcf@dshs.wa.gov
360-902-7816 (office) 360-489-9052 (cell) 360-902-7855 (fax)
From: shayne del cohen [shayne@sprintmail.com] Journal # 1201
10/17/08
First Thanksgiving Links
This Thanksgiving, do not grieve the changes that have occurred in the Americas over the last five centuries; instead pray for the revival of the foods of your ancestors, and pledge to bring them back, if not for yourself, then for the next seven generations.
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Waníshi (Thank you)! 
A Native American
Journey
Through Time
In the beginning, it is said that the Cherokee
(meaning “the first people") came to the Earth from holes in the ground
and they had nothing – starving, sick, cold and suffering. It is also
said that the Earth, the plants, and the animals saw the peoples’
suffering and had pity.
The generous and compassionate earth and living
things therein, decided to sacrifice themselves to provide all that the
people needed and end their sufferings.
And so it was that the first people and the Earth trusted in each
other as a mother and child throughout the phases of life: A perpetual
trust that the Earth will provide and the people will respect, conserve,
and protect the soil, water, air, trees, plants and animals in their
service. They are forever
interdependent and intertwined – Trust and Stewardship.
This painting depicts the perpetual trust of Mother Earth pouring forth her bounty from the Earth’s soils, waters, forests and seas. Mother Earth has sacrificed this for the people since the beginning; providing all throughout the phases of our lives. Our births–our new moon. Our prosperous life–our full moon. And, at the close of our life–our waning moon. Thus, the title of this painting is: “The Trust & the Stewardship.”—S. Denise Housley
National American
Indian Heritage Month
A Proclamation By the President of the United
States
of America
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 01, 2011
Presidential Proclamation --
National Native American
Heritage Month, 2011
NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2011
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
From
the Aleutian Islands to the Florida Everglades, American Indians and
Alaska Natives have contributed immensely to our country's heritage.
During National Native American Heritage Month, we commemorate their
enduring achievements and reaffirm the vital role American Indians and
Alaska Natives play in enriching the character of our Nation.
Native
Americans stand among America's most distinguished authors, artists,
scientists, and political leaders, and in their accomplishments, they
have profoundly strengthened the legacy we will leave our children. So,
too, have American Indians and Alaska Natives bravely fought to protect
this legacy as members of our Armed Forces. As service members, they
have shown exceptional valor and heroism on battlefields from the
American Revolution to Iraq and Afghanistan. Native Americans have
demonstrated time and again their commitment to advancing our common
goals, and we honor their resolve in the face of years of
marginalization and broken promises. My Administration recognizes the
painful chapters in our shared history, and we are fully committed to
moving forward with American Indians and Alaska Natives to build a
better future together.
To
strengthen our economy and win the future for our children, my
Administration is addressing problems that have burdened Native American
communities for too long. We are working to bolster economic
development, expand access to affordable health care, broaden
post-secondary educational opportunities, and ensure public safety and
tribal justice. In June, I signed an Executive Order establishing the
White House Rural Council, to strengthen Federal engagement with tribal
governments and promote economic prosperity in Indian Country and across
rural America. This comes in conjunction with several settlements that
will put more land into the hands of tribes and deliver long-awaited
trust reform to Indian Country.
To
bring jobs and sustainable growth to tribal nations, my Administration
is connecting tribal economies to the broader economy through
transportation infrastructure and high-speed Internet, as well as by
focusing on clean energy development on tribal lands. First Lady
Michelle Obama's recently launched Let's Move! in Indian Country
initiative will also redouble efforts to encourage healthy living for
American Indians and Alaska Natives. These actions reflect my
Administration's ongoing commitment to progress for Native Americans,
which was reaffirmed last year when we announced our support for the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Through
a comprehensive strategy where the Federal Government and tribal nations
move forward as equal partners, we can bring real and lasting change to
Indian Country.
This
month, we celebrate the rich heritage and myriad contributions of
American Indians and Alaska Natives, and we rededicate ourselves to
supporting tribal sovereignty, tribal self-determination, and prosperity
for all Native Americans. We will seek to strengthen our
nation-to-nation relationship by ensuring tribal nations have a voice in
shaping national policies impacting tribal communities. We will continue
this dialogue at the White House Tribal Nations Conference held in
Washington, D.C. next month. As we confront the challenges currently
facing our tribal communities and work to ensure American Indians and
Alaska Natives have meaningful opportunities to pursue their dreams, we
are forging a brighter future for the First Americans and all Americans.
NOW,
THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2011 as National
Native American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to commemorate
this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate
November 25, 2011, as Native American Heritage Day.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of November,
in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
BARACK OBAMA
Month Highlights
featuring
Health Disparities
November 2007 is American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month. According to the Census Bureau statistics in 2004 there are an estimated 4.4 million American Indians and Alaska Native people. November is the month when the accomplishments and contributions of the first Americans are honored for their many contributions to American society. But according to the Center for Disease Control website it also highlights a number of health disparities.
American Indian/Alaska Native people (AI/ANs) had the 2nd highest diabetes death rate in 2003, the highest death rate from Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis, were 1.5 times more likely to die from unintentional injuries. American Indian and Alaskan Natives teens and young men have the highest suicide rate in the 15 to 24 age group and adult men the second highest rate of suicide after whites (CDC 2004). The top five causes of death are heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, diabetes and stroke.
Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their
Health in a Changing World
Author: Urban Indian Health Commission
Published: November 01, 2007
Nearly seven out of every 10 American Indians
and Alaska Natives—2.8 million—live in or near cities, and that
number is growing. This change in lifestyle has left many in dire
circumstances and poor health. This report, produced by the Urban
Indian Health Commission, reviews the prevalence of three
diseases—depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease—in the
American Indian and Alaska Native population.
Key Findings:
Up to 30 percent of all American Indian and Alaska Native adults suffer from depression, and there is strong reason to believe the proportion is even greater among those living in cities.
Compared to the general U.S. population, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a higher prevalence of diabetes, a greater mortality rate from diabetes and an earlier age of diabetes onset.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives and kills more American Indians and Alaska Natives age 45 and older than cancer, diabetes and unintentional injuries—combined.
Joanna Soto-Aviles Tiano
Follow the links below...
Proclamation
November in History
ABCs of Native American
Heritage Month
Culturally Responsive Curriculum
Lewis &
Clark
Mascots
Learning
Lakota
Hats & Feather also Thanksgiving Food
Indian Health Care
Our Teacher Page Links offer even more!
Dept. of the Interior - Teaching with
Historic Places –
Look on the left
side for: Census Stats, Background,
Wisdom Links & More!
Go
to the link below for the following teaching activities pages:
www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=750&ttnewsletter=ttnewsgen-11022006
(Thanksgiving Activities, Incorporate Native perspectives, Native Mascot Activities, Heritage and Justice Activities, Extra ideas for teaching about Native America)
"HOW"—Many of us, if not most, recognize that word as the well-known, if hackneyed (by us), greeting of a Native American, the equivalent of "hello." But how much else is known among us, the heirs of the white invaders who began arriving here five centuries ago, seems minimal.
Growing up in American classrooms and monitoring the radio, television and the movies, we knew about Tonto, the Indian companion of the Lone Ranger, who called him Kemo Sabe—supposedly "he who knows." On the other hand, Tonto means "dummy" in Spanish—not very nice for your trusted Indian guide. We saw all those John Wayne and other Western movies, many of them replete with savage "redskin" villains. The prejudicial combat is not over yet. Read more by clicking on the title above.