Native American Heritage Day
November 29, 2019 will serve as Native American Heritage Day—a holiday dedicated to acknowledge and celebrate Native American culture, and their contributions to the United States, something calendars failed to notify.
In 1986, President Reagan declared that the week of November 23 to November 30 would serve as American Indian Week. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush declared that November will be Native American Heritage Month, and it has been approved to be so annually.
“This month, we recognize the contributions made by Native Americans since long before our founding, and we resolve to continue the work of strengthening government-to-government ties with tribal nations and expanding possibility for all,” said former President Barack Obama in his 2015 proclamation.
“Thanksgiving and the month of November, Native American Heritage Month, are an important time for the nation to renew a year-round commitment to honoring and strengthening the relationship between tribal nations and the United States,” said Jeferson Keel, President of the National Congress of Amderican Indians (NCAI), during a statement.
More often than not, the contributions of Native American tribes to the United States are forgotten. It was these tribes who played a role in providing democratic ideas which were used by the framers of this country’s constitution. These are also the same people who first grew crops such as potatoes and helped the Europeans survive by showing them how to farm effectively.
“They used techniques such as burying fish and burying different metals which was useful because it gave nutrients for the plants and kept the soil rich,” said Jiles Colemen, who is from Native American descent and has recently posted a now viral TikTok video on the realities of Columbus day.
They have made contributions to the U.S. military as approximately over 24,000 Native Americans served during World War Two. In current times, there are over 240,000 Native Americans who serve in the US Armed forces, according to the US Department of Defense.
These are just some of the many things Indeginous Tribes helped with in the country, which would make them and their actions vital to the United States even before it became the United States of America, and are many of the reasons to pay attention to Native American Heritage day.
Despite the significance of their contributions and traditions to our lives, there is not enough focus on Native American Day and month. There are a multitude of schools that fail to include the teaching of said contributions in the history curriculum.
“Native Ameircans are not given the recognition that we rightfully deserve. We’re looked at as more of a laughingstock and historical figure than we are as a people. I think that’s because we were so diminished in history. The educational system has failed to educate our youth on the contributions of my people,” said Maya Gillogly, whose family is part of the Sauk tribe and is an activist for Native American Awareness through social media.
It is important that we know and understand our history, and for everyone in the U.S, whether we care to admit it or not, Native Americans are a part of that.
“It breaks my heart that we were the main force that built the country and now the country lays on our backs,” said Gillogly.
Native American Heritage Day was a few days ago, but this story is still important. I think it is important to recognize that Native Americans are indeed still here and have contributed a lot to the United States. They should not be forgotten, so I wanted to take the time to bring recognition to Native Americans and their Heritage Day.
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