By: BHS Features Staff
November 6, 2024
As early as 1916, Native American Heritage Month was celebrated to acknowledge the contributions and achievements of the Natives. So, November has been Native American Heritage Month every year since 1990.
The first reported American Indian Day was in 1916, signed-off by the governor of New York, Charles Whitman.
In 1976, former president Gerald Ford announced that October 10-16 would be Native American Awareness Week. In 1986, it was later changed to November 23-30 as American Indian Week.
Four years later in 1990, Congress passed legislation, with President George H. W. Bush, designating November as Native American Heritage Month.
In 2008, Native American Heritage Month was amended to add the contributions of Alaskan Natives.
Most words in the English language are derived from Native Americans, who speak over 300 different languages. The word Ohio comes from an Iroquois word meaning “The Great River”. Several states have also designated Columbus Day as Native American Day.
There are many different ways to celebrate Native Americans and their culture. The most common way is by visiting Ohio’s Native American Heritage Sites.
Sports-related, the Cleveland Guardians were not always known as the Guardians; they used to be called the Cleveland Indians. The team rebranded to the Indians back in 1915, and Native American imagery has been used since 1932. In 1947, Bill Veeck, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, requested that a mascot be made for the Indians. Walter Goldbach was given the task of creating a mascot, and thus, he created the mascot for the Indians, Chief Wahoo.
Due to the removal of Native Americans during the Westward Expansion, many people forget that Indigenous people still exist. Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi tribe in Arizona, became the first Native American woman to become a federal judge in 2014. Not only was she the first Native American judge, but she was also the first Indigenous woman to be appointed as a U.S. Attorney.
Whether you are Native American or not, use this month to celebrate and commemorate the traditions and successes of Indigenous people. Their history is rich!
“If we (Native Americans) must die, we die defending our rights,” Sitting Bull.
{Information sourced from Native American Heritage Month, United States Senate, Ohio University, National Judicial, and Case Western Reserve University.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 