The Creation of
National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
A Brief History
Source: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
What began at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of
recognition for the significant contributions
the First Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States
has resulted in the month of
November being designated for that purpose.
Early Proponents
One of the early proponents of an American Indian Day was
Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian who was
the Director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, New York. He persuaded
the Boy Scouts of
America to set aside a day for the "First Americans," and for three
years the Scouts adopted such a day. In
1915, at the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence,
Kansas, a plan
celebrating American Indian Day was formally approved. The Association directed
its president, Rev.
Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to set aside a day of
recognition. Rev. Coolidge
issued a proclamation on September 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday
of May as American
Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of American
Indians as citizens.
The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James,
a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state
to state, seeking approval for a day to honor American Indians. On December 14,
1915, Red Fox James
presented the endorsements of 24 state governments to the White House. There
is no record, however, of
such a national day being proclaimed.
State Celebrations
The first American Indian Day to be celebrated in a state
was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916
by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September.
In Illinois, for
example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have
designated Columbus Day as
Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any legal
recognition as a national
holiday.
Heritage Months
In 1990 President George Bush approved a joint resolution designating
November 1990 as "National
American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations have been issued
each year since 1994.
National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
is celebrated to recognize the intertribal
cultures and to educate the public about the heritage, history, art, and traditions
of the American Indian and
Alaska Native people.
The Creation of
National American Indian & Alaska Native
Heritage Month
A Brief History
Source: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
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