NATIONAL NEWS
November 7, 2003
Celebrating American Indian Heritage
November is National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
 U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is Native American. |
During the month of November, Americans celebrate National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. America takes this month to recognize the contributions, culture and history of American Indians and Alaskan natives.
Native American Heritage History
The annual celebration of American Indian heritage officially started in 1916. Back then, Americans only celebrated for one day. Each year in May, the nation would celebrate American Indian Day.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the first proclamation that declared November National American Indian Heritage Month. Each year since then, the President recognizes the month with a new proclamation.
American Indian and Alaska Native History
American Indians were the first people to live in what is now America. Their tribes once reached across North America. Today, 27 states and many cities, rivers and lakes have names that came from American Indians.
Native Americans and Alaskan natives lived in America for thousands of years before explorers made it to the Americas in the 1400 and 1500s. When Christopher Columbus landed in America in 1492, he called the people he met Indians because he wrongly thought he had sailed to India.
Historians say that before Europeans arrived, between 12 and 15 million American Indians and Alaska Natives lived in America. After Europeans colonized the land, disease and war killed hundreds of thousands of American Indians. Today American Indians and Alaska Natives make up about 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, or about 4.1 million people.
Celebrating Heritage
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month is celebrated with community gatherings and festivals and government and educational activities. Many schools celebrate the month by learning more about the history and contributions of American Indians and Alaska Natives in education, art, literature, government, sports, science and technology past and present.
Fast Facts:
The largest American Indian tribe is Cherokee with about 697,400 people.
The largest Alaska Native tribe is Tlingit with about 17,200 people.
538,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives live on reservations.
Nearly 25 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives live in poverty.
