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By Sarah Wright
Did you know Native American Heritage Month was not a month at all, but instead it was initially a single day? It was first celebrated on the second Saturday in May of 1916, but only in New York. A few other states adopted the commemoration over time, but the month itself was not an area of emphasis and celebration until 1990 when President George H. W. Bush deemed November American Indian Heritage Month. The month does coincide with Thanksgiving, but the complexity of Thanksgiving and Native Americans will need to be explored in another article at another time.
Native Americans are a statistically small share of the population, about 1-1.5%, or 5 million people or so. There are under 600 federally recognized tribes, though interestingly, more than half of those are located in Alaska. There are plenty of other tribes or groups, but they lack the designation of being federally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA–Federal Government). As a result of assimilation, disease, and cumbersome legislation, there is only one fully recognized group in North Carolina, and that is the Eastern Tribal Band of the Cherokee. The people are genetically the same as members of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, but the ancestral home of the Cherokee people is considered to be in Western North Carolina.
As with all groups of people, Native Americans are not a monolith and there are vast differences both within and between different tribes. Most Native Americans do not live on reservations, reserves, or territories. Less than 30% live on those protected lands, yet there is a prevailing idea that Native Americans are people of the past, but the truth is that Native Americans are of the past, present, and future. And many work tirelessly to preserve or even revive their Native Languages.
Throughout the month, I encourage you to think of the efforts to eradicate Native Americans – boarding schools, removal from homes, removal from land, and yet Native Americans are still here surviving, contributing to society, celebrating their past, and thriving for the future. ᏩᏙ (Wa-do or Thank you in Cherokee)
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