Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month! Also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, this is a time to recognize the history, culture, and contributions of Indigenous people.

The first time National Native American Heritage Month was recognized federally in the United States was in 1990, but the celebration traces its roots back much further. In fact, much of its legacy can be traced back to New York state! In May 1916, New York became the first state to recognize “American Indian Day,” and one of the major proponents for a federal recognition day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian who led advocacy efforts from Rochester, New York throughout the early 1900s.

Part of Native American Heritage Month involves reckoning with the past. In the 17th century, the Dutch arrived to what we now call New York City, an area that was then called Lenapehoking, named for the Lenape people who lived there. It is often said that Manhattan was “sold” by the Lenape to the newly-arrived Europeans – there are even memorials in the City commemorating a sale – but it is unlikely that Native people saw their agreement in the same way that the Dutch did, as they did not view land as something you could own. As a result, they, like many Indigenous people, were forcefully removed from their homeland.

Much of the land that was taken from the Indigenous people still bear their names, or else their names come from words in various Native American languages. In this way, all across New York City their legacy remains ever-present. “Canarsee,” for example, was the name for the tribe that resided in parts of present-day Brooklyn that became today’s neighborhood of Canarsie. Other now-familiar place names, like Gowanus, Mosholu,and maybe even Coney Island are also thought to have evolved from various Native American names and words. Manhattan itself, in fact, was once called “Manna-hata” by the Lenape people who lived there and believed to have possibly referred to a “place where we gather timber for bows and arrows,” though there are several differing theories on what exactly the word meant.

However, November is not only a time to remember the past; it is also important to celebrate the Indigenous people and cultures who are continuing to impact in our world today, like Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, the first female Native American to travel to space, who made her journey with NASA in October 2022, or Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who became the first Indigenous Cabinet member in U.S. history in 2021, among many others.

Learn more about the many ways you can celebrate Native American Heritage Month this year by checking out the resources, including reading lists, lesson plans, and upcoming virtual and in-person events, below.