National Native American Heritage Month had its inception at the beginning of the 20th century. There were many proponents of an "American Indian Day," including Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a member of the Seneca and the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y., who convinced the Boy Scouts of America to begin holding a "First Americans" Day. Not long after, the Congress of the American Indian Association directed its president, Reverend Sherman Coolidge, a member of the Arapahoe, to issue a formal declaration establishing "American Indian Day." On September 28, 1915, Coolidge issued a proclamation that "declared the second Sunday of each May as American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens."
Red Fox James, a member of the Blackfoot, also helped campaign for an official celebration of Native Americans by riding on horseback from state to state in 1915 trying to garner support from each state's government. He received 24 endorsements and presented them at the White House, but no official celebration was instituted. The first American Indian Day was declared one year later by the governor of New York, with many other states then following suit.
A federal celebration of Native American people, history, and culture, "National American Indian Heritage Month," was finally declared in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. Every November, we honor the culture and contributions of all Native American people.
Information retrieved from nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/
"Still invisible and often an afterthought, indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world's water, lands and history -- while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen Tara Houska chronicles the history of attempts by government and industry to eradicate the legitimacy of indigenous peoples' land and culture, including the months-long standoff at Standing Rock which rallied thousands around the world. 'It's incredible what you can do when you stand together,' Houska says. 'Stand with us -- empathize, learn, grow, change the conversation.'"
I Am Where I Come From: Native American College Students and Graduates Tell Their Life Stories by 
Standing up with Ga'Axsta'las: Jane Constance Cook and the Politics of Memory, Church, and Custom by 
Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women by 
Call Me Hank: A Stó꞉lō Man's Reflections on Logging, Living, and Growing Old by 
Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and the Mississauga Indians by 
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by 
Moose to Moccasins: The Story of Ka Kita Wa Pa No Kwe by "Larry shares his thoughts on the Ute Indian people today and shares Ute wisdom, including the Creation Story. Larry is a member of the Ute Indian Tribe, and he is a filmmaker and story teller. He's also a veteran who served in Vietnam. He shares Ute wisdom and language."
Click on any of the links to visit that title's IMDb page!
Movies
Four Sheets to the Wind (Sterlin Harjo)
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk)
Rhymes for Young Ghouls (Jeff Barnaby)
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (Kathleen Hepburn & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)
Television Series
Reservation Dogs (Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi)
Rutherford Falls (Ed Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas, & Michael Schur)
Documentaries
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Catherine Bainbridge & Alfonso Maiorana)
Basketball or Nothing (Matthew Howley)
Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible (Kristen Lappas & Tom Rinaldi)
Dawnland (Adam Mazo & Ben Pender-Cudlip)
"'If we take care of the land, the land takes care of us,' says Indigenous leader Valérie Courtois. As climate change continues to devastate the planet, Indigenous guardians are helping to honor our responsibility to the land, monitoring water quality, conducting research and working to restore key species. Courtois invites us all to support the guardians working to ensure that humanity has a future on Earth -- and to discover that healing the land can transform us as well.
Keetsahnak / Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters by 
We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by 
Children of the Broken Treaty: Canada's Lost Promise and One Girl's Dream by 
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by 
Native but Foreign: Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands by 
Anguish of Snails: Native American Folklore in the West by 
Native Foodways: Indigenous North American Religious Traditions and Foods by 
Violence Against Indigenous Women: Literature, Activism, Resistance by 
Recovering Native American Writings in the Boarding School Press by 
Recovering Our Ancestors' Gardens by 
Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America by 
Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee by 
We Shall Remain: America through Native Eyes by "Toward the end of the 19th century, the US took thousands of Native American children and enrolled them in off-reservation boarding schools, stripping them of their cultures and languages. Yet decades later as the US phased out the schools, following years of indigenous activism, it found a new way to assimilate Native American children: promoting their adoption into white families. Watch the episode to find out how these two distinct eras in US history have had lasting impacts on Native American families."
"The indigenous existence in Western and American culture is narrowly viewed and accepted with little to no input from actual Indigenous people. Gregg Deal talks about the use of history as a tool while he navigates the restrictions thrusts upon his work as a contemporary artist while challenging those who hear his words to take responsibility for their knowledge, and create room for this nation’s First Peoples. Gregg Deal is a husband, father, artist and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. As a provocative contemporary artist-activist much of Deal’s work deals with Indigenous identity and pop culture, touching on issues of race relations, historical consideration and stereotype. With this work—including paintings, mural work, performance art, filmmaking and spoken word—Deal critically examines issues within Indian country such as decolonization, the Native mascot issue and appropriation."
"Archaeologist and curator Chip Colwell collects artifacts for his museum, but he also returns them to where they came from. In a thought-provoking talk, he shares how some museums are confronting their legacies of stealing spiritual objects and pillaging ancient graves -- and how they're bridging divides with communities who are demanding the return of their cultural treasures."
