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Native American Heritage Month

Written on: November 10th, 2009 in Blog Posts

On October 30th, President Obama officially declared November to be Native American Heritage Month. This year’s theme for the month’s observations is “Pride in our heritage. Honor to our ancestors”. You can read the official proclamation below, or click on the link to download a copy

There’s an official heritage month website, with an abundance of information about the history of Native Americans and their contributions to their country, along with online exhibits and resources for educators.

Of course, there are a tremendous number of great books available from the Delaware Library Catalog on Native American history and culture. You could do a lot worse than Dee Brown’s magisterial and controversial “Indian history of the American West” Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I vividly recall being shocked and enlightened by this account of history from the side that “lost”- it sparked a continuing interest in the purpose of writing about history and the importance of the survival of unofficial narratives.

The President’s announcement keenly noted the participation and sacrifice of Native People’s in the U.S. Armed Forces, which throughout this nation’s history has been enduring & significant. While many books have focused on the “Code Talkers” who contributed to the success of the U.S. war effort in the Pacific Theater, historian Alison Bernstein argues in her book American Indians and World War Two that enlistment and service in combat by Indian troops was instrumental in the Native American political awakening of the later 20th Century. You can check this book out from a Delaware Library Catalog library or review it at the Google Books website in a limited preview: