Pictured above: A Coast Salish canoe
Celebrate Native American Heritage Day
Native American Heritage Day was first celebrated as American Indian Day in “May 1916 in New York. Red Fox James, a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state to state, getting endorsements from 24 state governments to have a day to honor American Indians. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as National American Indian Heritage Month. Similar proclamations have been issued every year since 1994.”
Now, Native American Heritage Day is observed the Friday after Thanksgiving, although not all tribes support this since it’s also widely known as Black Friday, one of the most commercialized days of the year in the U.S.
Listen to Native Voices
Take time to listen to these Native voices over the holiday weekend.
Native Voice One – Native American Radio Network
“Native Voice One (NV1) is the distribution division of Anchorage-based Koahnic Broadcast Corporation. Our mission is to serve as a leader in bringing Native voices to Alaska, the nation, and the world. NV1 distributes work from Native and non-Native producers whose programming educates, advocates, and celebrates Indigenous life and values.”
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) – Podcasts
“This MMIWG Information Hub on the KAIROS website is focused on providing information, resources and updates related to the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.”
Rumble On: More Native American Musicians You Should Know
“…today’s Native peoples are full participants in modern culture and engage in the same cultural give and take as everyone else. In recent decades, these artists have melded their own traditions with au currant forms of expression to give us the Navajo (Diné) drum & bass sounds of Sihasin, the Inuit a cappella of Pamua, the country-rock storytelling of Arigon Starr, the Standing Rock-inspired folk of Raye Zaragoza and the topical lightning of Prolific the Rapper and A Tribe Called Red.”