Although the first "American Indian Day" was celebrated in May 1916 in New York, a month-long recognition of Native Americans did not happen until 1990. That year, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November as National American Indian Heritage Month. Since then, the title has expanded to celebrate the heritage, history, art and traditions of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

In honor of this year's National American Indian Heritage Month, Smithsonian.com recognizes two renowned Native artists for their bead and sculpture work, investigates why Native American languages are disappearing, explores Sitting Bull's legacy through his great-grandson and offers a list of festivals, concerts and lectures at the Smithsonian Institution and around the country.

Sacred Apache artifacts

The Road to Repatriation

The National Museum of the American Indian works with Native Tribes to bring sacred artifacts home again

"I was proud to show that our Indian people are still doing this," Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty says of her handiwork.

Beading the Way

How Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty created one of the centerpieces for the National Museum of American Indian's "Identity by Design" exhibition

A childs sled

Gathering Rosebuds

Did a Native American actress inspire one of Hollywood's most celebrated symbols?

Tongue Tied

Some 200 Native American languages are dying out and with them valuable history

A lock of hair and wool leggings belonging to Sitting Bull will soon be repatriated to his closest living relatives (left, Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull's Legacy

The Lakota Sioux leader's relics return to his only living descendants

"Traditionally as Native people, we have this incredible sensibility about making our homes just practical and beautiful," Naranjo-Morse says. "Pueblo people believe that they came out of the ground, so it would only make sense that they

Sculpting Her Vision

A photo gallery of Nora Naranjo-Morse's inspiring outdoor designs

EXPLORE MORE SMITHSONIAN COVERAGE OF AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE

bison
  • Back Home On The Range
    When a group of Native Americans took up bison ranching, they brought a prairie back to life
“I always knew strongly who I was and what I was supposed to do,” says Wiki (here at the mouth of the Klamath River on the Yurok Indian reservation in Northern California).
  • Inspired Educator
    Yurok Indian Geneva Wiki returns to her roots to teach disadvantaged minorities
Ojibwa tribe members gather 50,000 pounds of wild rice each fall on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota (Ryan Stevens "knocks" grains into a canoe while James Frederick poles).
  • Going With the Grain
    On Minnesota lakes, Native Americans satisfy a growing hunger for "slow food" by harvesting authentically wild rice the old-fashioned way
corn-grinding ceremony
  • Mystery and Drama
    Virginia Morell, author of "The Zuni Way," on the mystical ceremonies of the Zuni pueblo

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Calendar of Events

At the Smithsonian

Celebrate American Indian Heritage Month with the Smithsonian Institution

Around the Country

Learn about American Indian Heritage Month celebrations in your state

Photo Gallery

Wedding party

North American Indian Photography of Edward Curtis

See Edward S. Curtis' work The North American Indian

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Native American Turquoise & Lapis Pierced Earrings

This modern sterling silver design, handcrafted by Navajo artisans of New Mexico, showcases semiprecious blue gems.