National American Indian Heritage Month
November 2007

Hovenweep National Monument, this year's featured National Park NPS Photo by Neal Herbert

The National Register of Historic Places is pleased to promote awareness of and appreciation for the history and culture of American Indians and Alaska Natives during National American Indian Heritage Month. This month is dedicated to recognizing the intertribal cultures, the events and lifeways, the designs and achievements of American Indians and Alaska Natives. As part of the observance, this site showcases historic properties listed in the National Register, National Register publications, and National Park units. Join the National Register in paying powerful tribute to the spirit of American Indians and Alaska Natives, and their contributions to our history.

Featured Properties

Traditional Dance Circle in White Eagle Park, one of this year's featured places Photo courtesy of Oklahomo State Historic Preservation Office Photo by Mary Jane Warde

Ponca Tribal Self-Help Community Building District
Niobrara, NE (feature from 2003)
A meeting place, learning and cultural center for the Ponca Tribe

Publications

Knife River: Early Village Life on the Plains, one of the featured lesson plans NPS photo courtesy of Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

• The Battle of Honey Springs:
  The Civil War Comes to the Indian Territory
• The Battle of Horseshoe Bend:
  Collision of Cultures
• The Battle of Oriskany: "Blood Shed a Stream Running Down"
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Hoodoos Cast Their Spell
• Gran Quivira: A Blending of Cultures in a Pueblo Indian Village
• Knife River: Early Village Life on the Plains
• The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Documenting the Uncharted Northwest
• San Antonio Missions: Spanish Influence in Texas
• Tonto National Monument: Saving a National Treasure
• The Trail of Tears: The Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation
  

American Indians were the first explorers and settlers of the American Southwest. Learn more about their distinctive cultures they established here. Photo by and courtesy of Shannon Davis

National Register Travel Itineraries Travel to historic places that convey the rich cultural heritage of our American Indian population with inspiring stories of their perseverance across America. American Southwest Lewis and Clark Expedition Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Pipestone, Minnesota Indian Mounds of Mississippi Along the Georgia-Florida Coast Three Historic Nevada Cities: Carson City, Reno, Virginia City

History in the Parks
Featured Park 2007: Hovenweep National Monument

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Aztec Ruins National Monument Bandelier National Monument Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (previous feature) Big Cypress National Preserve Big Hole National Battlefield Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Canyon de Chelly National Monument Cape Krusenstern National Monument Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Chaco Culture National Historical Park Colonial National Historical Park Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Effigy Mounds National Monument (previous feature) El Malpais National Monument Everglades National Park Fort Bowie National Historic Site Fort Laramie National Historic Site Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Fort Smith National Historic Site Fort Stanwix National Monument Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Grand Portage National Monument Great Smoky Mountains National Park Hohokam Pima National Monument Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (previous feature) Horseshoe Bend National Military Park Hovenweep National Monument Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Katmai National Park and Preserve Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

Kobuk Valley National Park Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Lava Beds National Monument Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Mesa Verde National Park (previous feature) Montezuma Castle National Monument Natchez Trace Parkway Navajo National Monument Nez Perce National Historical Park Northwest Alaska Areas Ocmulgee National Monument Pea Ridge National Military Park Pecos National Historical Park Petroglyph National Monument Pipestone National Monument Piscataway Park Poverty Point National Monument Russell Cave National Monument Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Shiloh National Military Park Sitka National Historical Park Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve Tonto National Monument Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (previous feature) Tumacácori National Historical Park (previous feature) Tuzigoot National Monument Walnut Canyon National Monument Washita Battlefield National Historic Site Whitman Mission National Historic Site Wupatki National Monument Yosemite National Park Yucca House National Monument

Learn More

Presidential Proclamation: National American Indian Heritage Month 2007

American Indian History Month 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002
For more information about American Indian properties listed in the National Register, please visit this past feature.

Indian Health Service
This website provides a calendar of events and further links, including a Brief History on the Creation of a National American Indian Heritage Month.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation: Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
Visit this website for more information on the 1992 U.S. Congress adoption of amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act (P.L. 102-575) that allow federally recognized Indian tribes to take on more formal responsibility for the preservation of significant historic properties on tribal lands.

Tribal Preservation Program
Learn more about the National Park Service (NPS) Tribal Preservation Program that assists Indian tribes in preserving their historic properties and cultural traditions.

Online Museum Exhibits
Discover American Indian artifacts from Chaco Canyon, Hubbell Trading Post and Bandelier National Monument in online exhibits of the NPS's Museum Management Program.

Archeology Program
The NPS Archeology Program encourages public interest in and stewardship of the sites contributing to our national heritage. See especially their features on The Earliest Americans, Ancient Architects of the Mississippi and Coso Rock Art.

Applied Ethnography Program
The NPS Applied Ethnography Program is concerned with living communities and the resources that are important to these groups. The program's role in the National Park Service includes providing information about groups who "assign significance to places closely linked with their own sense of purpose, existence as a community, and development as ethnically distinctive peoples."

Library of Congress: Built in America (HABS/HAER/HALS)
The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the United States, including sites related to American Indian history and culture. Searches on keywords like "American Indian," or on a specific tribe like the Cherokee, will provide information on an array of associated sites. Most of the site records have publication-quality drawings, photographs and historical data.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
The National NAGPRA Program develops regulations and guidance for implementing NAGPRA, provides training, assists Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations and museums with the NAGPRA process, and manages a grants program.

National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians, founded in 1944, is the oldest, largest and most representative national Indian organization serving the needs of a broad membership of American Indian and Alaska Native governments.

American Indian Heritage Foundation
The American Indian Heritage Foundation builds bridges of understanding and friendship between Indian and non-Indian people.

Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
The newly opened Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian fosters, protects and promotes an understanding of Native American cultures by collaborating with indigenous peoples across the Western Hemisphere. Visit the American Indian Heritage Month calendar of events.

Department of the Navy--Naval Historical Center
American Indians have participated with distinction in United States military actions for more than 200 years. The Navy highlights their involvement online in: 20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military.

American Indian Policy Center
The American Indian Policy Center has put together a resources list that provides access to information about US tribal relations, enrollment, sovereignty, and treaties. It also provides access to more information from the Center.

Index of Native American Resources on the Internet
Native American Resources on the Internet provides a wealth of links to learn more about Native Americans on the internet.

NativeWeb: Resources for Indigenous Cultures Around the World
Developed by a group of historians, independent scholars, and activists, NativeWeb offers a gateway to more than 4,000 historical and contemporary resources relating to more than 250 separate nations.

American Indian Tribal Histories Project is one of the programs of the Western Heritage Center. Visit the Western Heritage Center website and click on the American Indian Tribal Histories Project symbol to learn more. The mission of the American Indian Tribal Histories Project is to preserve and maintain American Indian tribal histories and cultures, from an American Indian perspective, for future Generations to come.

White Eagle Park | Ponca Tribel Self-Help Community Building District (2003 feature) |
Hovenweep National Monument | American Indian Feature Page | NR Home


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