THE ART OF RESILIENCE
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National Native American Heritage Day
November, 25, 2022 | Native Children’s Survival
Today is National Native American Heritage Day in the United States of America. Observed a day after "America's Thanksgiving," Native American Heritage Day was signed into U.S. law by the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, on October 30, 2009. A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month, 2022, was signed by the 46th and current President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden JR., on October 31, 2022.
"NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2022 as National Native American Heritage Month. I urge all Americans, as well as their elected representatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, and to celebrate November 25, 2022, as Native American Heritage Day."
A joint resolution designating November 1990 as "National American Indian Heritage Month" was first approved by the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush. American PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS with variations of the name (including "National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month" and "Native American Heritage Month") have been proclaimed each year since 1994. Ironically, while making such proclamations, presidents, governments, and their institutions continue to design the oppression of Indigenous Peoples. Indeed, the most famous U.S. document read publicly and celebrated every Fourth of July holiday in the United States of America since its conception in 1776, The Declaration of Independence, to this day refers to Native Peoples as "Merciless Indian Savages."
Yesterday, America celebrated "Thanksgiving" as a national holiday. While every day is a thanksgiving, for many Indigenous Peoples, "America's Thanksgiving" is a day of mourning. In 1970, after centuries of attempted genocide, colonization, and oppression, the American Indian Movement took Plymouth back from the Pilgrims in a symbolic act of resistance and resilience. A National Day of Mourning replaced America's "Thanksgiving." Since 1975, an Annual Sunrise Ceremony and Gathering has been held on Alcatraz Island in Ramaytush Ohlone territory (San Francisco Bay Area) to pay tribute and honor Native Peoples past to present on America's Thanksgiving.
During this years celebration of National Native American Heritage Month and Day, Native Children's Survival commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Trail of Broken Treaties (TBT). On November 2, 1972, Indigenous peoples from the four corners of Turtle Island arrived in Washington, D.C., to deliver a 20-Point Position paper directly to the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. For six days, November 2-8, 1972, the TBT occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) building capturing the world's attention.
Native Children's Survival challenges the United States to celebrate Indigenous Peoples with more than proclamations and mere words, but by literally honoring the treaties made with Native Nations — and fully acknowledging our sovereignty, autonomy, our right to self-determination, and implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This National Native American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Day, contact the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and respectfully request the Biden administration #HonorTheTreaties and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.