Native American Heritage Month
Native American Heritage month has its history rooted in the early nineteen hundreds and wasn't until George H. W. Bush in 1990 approved a joint resolution to have November be the month honoring the United States' history of Native Americans. It was first proposed by Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, in 1913 to the Boy Scouts of America and they adopted such a day in 1915. In the same year the Congress of the American Indian Association approved a plan for obtaining a Native American Heritage day. Their president at the time, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, was assigned to the task of designating such a day. He sent out a proclamation stating that the second Saturday of every May was to be the American Indian Day.
Just a year prior to this proclamation, another Native American, named Red Fox James a Blackfoot Indian, rode form state to state to gain approval and support for such a day of American Indian recognition and obtained the approval of twenty-four states. No record was found of the day being proclaimed but the information from Red Fox James was delivered to the White House in 1915. Native American Heritage month is meant to symbolize and praise the original inhabitants of the country and their contributions to the United States. The contributions both past and future are defined or stated in a proclamation form 1996. The proclamation is quite long but the basic message is that the Native Americans lived with the land in harmony and these values need to be upheld by society as well as providing the same economic, educational, and career opportunities to them as with every other American.
The proclamation and joint agreement on Native American Heritage Month goes on further to speak of how the future needs to have the indigenous people of the country be as big a part as they were in the past. As the Iroquois teach their children the future must be considered over the ramifications over the next seven generations. Enjoying food of the Native Americans has been part of the United States cuisine for years but during the festivities of the month long celebration many forms of Native American foods are consumed; foods like turkey, cornbread, cranberries and hominy are all part of the cuisine of Native Americans. Food swill differ by location in the country and tribe.
