Native American Heritage Day, a day to honor the cultures, traditions, resilience, while recognizing the contributions Native Americans have made to the nation. Let’s dive into what the day is, how it started thoughts around the day being after Thanksgiving, and ways to honor Native Peoples.
In 2009, President Barack Obama signed “The Native American Heritage Day Resolution”, which occurs the Friday after Thanksgiving. President Obama stated, “I encourage every American to join me in observing Native American Heritage Day ... It is also important for all of us to understand the rich culture, tradition, and history of Native Americans and their status today, and to appreciate the contributions that First Americans have made and will continue to make to our Nation.” Though President Obama’s decision to sign the bill was a step in the right direction, it was not supported by all members of the Native community. According to the Blog Native Hope, the bill was only supported by 184 out of 567 federally recognized tribes.
Brian Perry, a Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and a Native Ambassador shared his thoughts on the bill. Brian stated,
"As a Native American, I feel slighted. The day after Thanksgiving? Almost an afterthought. With November being Native American Heritage Month, there are 28 other days to select from with of course Thanksgiving having its long established day to itself. Why must we take a backseat to Thanksgiving? Why not the day before Thanksgiving?” The day after Thanksgiving is one of the most irrelevant days of the year. Most people are off work, families travel, and there is very little in the news cycle. What is the day after Thanksgiving known as in America? Black Friday—not Native American Heritage Day. It is a day when the American consumer plots out the best bargains at the best retailers at the best times to contribute to the American GDP. Not a word or mention in the mainstream media about Native American Heritage Day, just videos of adults fist fighting at 4:00 in the morning in stores over the last trendy toy in stock for this year's Season of Giving. Are we Native Americans the Forgotten America? Voices Unheard. When a national civil holiday occurs that hardly anyone knows about...I begin to wonder.”
Perry highlighted several components in his comments, 1) the native community being an afterthought to a well-known national holiday that reminds them of genocide, historical trauma, colonialism, and oppression. 2) the irrelevance of the day after thanksgiving - normally folks are out shopping and to get lucky on securing the best deals. The majority of Americans are not thinking about Native American Heritage Day. 3) The day after Thanksgiving is the embodiment of capitalism & white supremacy culture. Normalizing adults fighting over cheaper products highlights the dark reality that America values property more than people. 4) The historical narrative of silencing and marginalizing Native voices by white supremacy culture. Though this is coming from a single member of the community, their voice deserves to be heard.
So what are some ways to celebrate and truly honor Native People’s culture? Few examples include but are not limited to: reading a story or poem about and/or by a Native American (i.e. An American Sunrise: Poems by Joy Harjo or There There by Tommy Orange), trying Native recipes (i.e. Pemmican, Algonquin Wild Nut Soup, and Posole with Red Chile), and watching movies or documentaries. For years, the movie industry has presented inaccurate cultural portrayals of Native peoples, which have contributed to silencing Native American voices. Some examples include Broken Arrow (1950) and The Searchers (1956), Little Big Man (1970), Dances With Wolves (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and even Disney’s Pocahontas (1995). Though these may have had good intentions, these films were created by the lens of white filmmakers and not by Native peoples. Films such as, Smoke Signals (1998), Drunktowns Finest (2015), A Thousand Roads (2005), Barking Water (2009), and Warrior Women (2018) were created by Native directors. Please see a list of films by Native directors here: https://wtop.com/gallery/entertainment/movies-to-watch-on-native-american-heritage-day/
Native American Heritage Day is a reminder to always honor & celebrate our Indigenous communities and not only on this day or the month of November.
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