Native American Heritage Month was declared in 1990 by George H.W. Bush via Joint resolution designating November 1990 National American Indian Heritage Month. Similar proclamations have been issued annually each year since 1994. You can learn more about this and view a comprehensive inventory of Public Laws, Presidential Proclamations, and congressional resolutions related to Native American Heritage Month here.
Resilience
"This country was founded on genocide and slavery.” W. Kamau Bell got straight to the point when he offered this pointedly accurate assessment of American history during a conversation hosted at ASU to kick off the semester. The event was intended to bring discussions on racism to the forefront of students’ consciousness. It is a harsh statement, but it’s true. And if Americans don’t learn American history—warts and all—we are doomed to repeat it.
Last month, AIPI co-authored an open letter with other American Indian Service Constituencies at ASU affirming our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Ittifatpoli (Chickasaw: "talking about things that matter")
It’s pretty much official: America is in the midst of a seismic cultural revolution. So I ask you, what are you doing to embrace the change? How are you challenging yourself and your beliefs? I’ll tell you about my process if you challenge yours.
Written by American Indian Service Constituencies at ASU
Our offices and programs, which represent and serve many tribal communities in the United States and across the globe, stand in solidarity with Black, African American, Afro Indigenous, and Afro Caribbean peoples. We condemn the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and Dion Johnson, to name but a few. We acknowledge that these murders are a direct response to the larger structural and institutional racism.
For one remote Alaska Native village, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a return to tribal traditions and a deeper appreciation for their homelands. One hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, sits a Gwich’in village with a population nearing 200. While isolation was a reality before the pandemic, survival in the ‘new normal’ has required some adjustments.
[UPDATE]
This post was originally published June 8, 2020. Yesterday, August 4, Christina won her primary election in Kansas! Now running unopposed, she will become the youngest member of the Kansas State Legislature and only the third Native American in its history! Congratulations, Christina!
The American Indian Policy Institute is proud to see that Christina Haswood, a former AIPI staff member, is now running for public office in Kansas.
As protests across the country continue to demand justice for George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, many Native Americans are joining the efforts.
Ittifatpoli (Chickasaw: "talking about things that matter")
As we start June of 2020, AIPI and many in our country are still (months later) working remotely and taking great care to not expose ourselves, our families, our communities to COVID-19. We watched our students graduate from afar and are greatly proud of them, but cannot even give them a hug. We watched the first Americans in nine years go to the International Space Station via an American made rocket and space capsule.