RESILIENT AND ENDURING
For almost one hundred years, Americans both Native and non-Native have urged that there be permanently designated by the nation a special place on the calendar to honor the contributions, achievements, sacrifices, and cultural and historical legacy of the original inhabitants of what is now the United States and their descendants..
The quest for a national honoring of Indigenous People began in the early 20th Century as a private effort. As far back as the late 1970s, Congress has enacted legislation and subsequent presidents have issued annual proclamations designating a day, a week or a month to celebrate and commemorate the nation’s indigenous heritage. In 2009, Congress passed and the President signed legislation that established the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day of each year as “Native American Heritage Day.
In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, under variants on the name have been issued each year since 1994. During November 2020, Progress North is proud to celebrate Indigenous Heritage Month.
OUR LOCAL TRIBES
The Bad River Tribe aims to work toward a more progressive, financially stable government, to maintain tribal sovereignty; and enable members to progress individually, towards a more fulfilling life culturally, spiritually, and economically. The reservation’s conservation area contains almost 500 miles of rivers and streams, over 30,000 acres of wetlands, 38 miles of Lake Superior shoreline, and the Kakagon Sloughs.
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Miskwaabekong – The Red Cliff Reservation – hugs the northeastern shoreline of the Bayfield Peninsula, nestled between Cornucopia and Bayfield overlooking the Apostle Islands in northern Wisconsin. Red Cliff presents opportunities for community members and visitors to enjoy a beautiful area while also preserving our land and natural resources. The Red Cliff Band is also the largest employer in Bayfield County.
The Lac Courte Oreilles people continue to practice traditional subsistence by hunting, fishing, and gathering throughout the four seasons. The reservation of the LCO Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is located within beautiful mixed forest woods, where the broad leaf and great pine trees create extremely diversified ecosystems. The abundance of clean water and air provides an almost pristine environment where indigenous species thrive.
CELEBRATE WITH US
THE PROMISE OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS AND DECOLONIZING EDUCATION REFORM
TUESDAY 11/17
UW-MADISON
Join us for Dr. Martin Cannon’s (Oneida Nation) talk on what it might mean to implement a critical and decolonizing approach to social justice education and pedagogy. He will also consider a decolonizing framework centered on the building of settler-Indigenous alliances and disruption of colonial relations of power. Sponsored by the School of Education’s Global Engagement Office, Department of Educational Policy Studies, Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Teacher Education Center.
NATIVE COMMUNITIES AND THE VOTE
WEDNESDAY 11/18
NATIONAL ARCHIVES MUSEUM
Join us in this webinar for educators and learn how to incorporate primary sources related to American Indian voting rights into your lessons. We will share activities and resources from the National Archives, and explore how to include discussions of evolving rights over time as relating to Native Communities and the right to participate in federal elections.
NATIVE CINEMA SHOWCASE
WEDNESDAY 11/18 –
FRIDAY 11/27
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase is an annual celebration of the best in Native film. This year, for the 20th-anniversary showcase, the museum presents the full program online, streaming new films, fan favorite classics, and conversations with filmmakers. The showcase provides a unique forum for engagement with Native filmmakers and stories from Indigenous communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and Arctic.
NATIVE AMERICAN NURSES, COVID-19, AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
THURSDAY 11/19
6TH ANNUAL NATIVE NATIONS NURSING SUMMIT
Join us VIRTUALLY for the Native Nations Nursing Virtual Summit to learn about nursing career pathways and evidence-based approaches for optimal, culturally congruent health care in Native American communities. This year’s summit will be provided by LIVE Webinar. Sessions will also be recorded and offered approximately 3 weeks following the live summit. Teresa Brockie, PhD, RN, FAAN, Aaniniiin (White Clay People) Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana.
YOUTH IN ACTION: INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
THURSDAY 11/19
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
Today many young people are returning to traditional food sources and sustainable ways of living through political action and sustainable practice. This November, join us in a conversation with young Native foodies working to decolonize their diets and restore balance in their bodies and communities. Panelists: Alecia Lennie, Samuel Lopez, and Mariah Gladstone.
WHY WE SERVE: NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE ARMED FORCES
FRIDAY 11/20 –
FRIDAY 11/27
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States—often in extraordinary numbers—since the American Revolution.
For some, the Indigenous commitment to the U.S. military doesn’t make sense. Why would Indians serve a country that overran their homelands, suppressed their cultures, and confined them to reservations?
Native people have served for the same reasons as anyone else: to demonstrate patriotism or pursue employment, education, or adventure. Many were drafted. Yet tribal warrior traditions, treaty commitments with the United States, and responsibility for defending Native homelands have also inspired the enduring legacy of Indigenous military service.
Why We Serve commemorates the National Native American Veterans Memorial, dedicated at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC