Reading Indigenous

Reading Indigenous - Novels, Poetry, & Short Storiees

Reading Indigenous

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.

One of the very proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans” and for three years they adopted such a day. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.

The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.

The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.

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 (including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.

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Night of the Living Rez

Night of the Living Rez Morgan Talty
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Shutter

Shutter Ramona Emerson
9781641293334
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The Sentence: A Novel

The Sentence: A Novel Louise Erdrich
9780062671134
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The Round House: National Book Award Winning Fiction

The Round House: National Book Award Winning Fiction Louise Erdrich
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The Night Watchman: Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction

The Night Watchman: Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction Louise Erdrich
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Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years

Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years Joy Harjo, Sandra Cisneros
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There There

There There Tommy Orange
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Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Ceremony: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Leslie Marmon Silko, Larry McMurtry
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Postcolonial Love Poem: Poems

Postcolonial Love Poem: Poems Natalie Diaz
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American Indian Stories (Modern Library Torchbearers)

American Indian Stories (Modern Library Torchbearers) Zitkala-Sa, Layli Long Soldier
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An American Sunrise: Poems

An American Sunrise: Poems Joy Harjo
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Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers: Poems (National Poetry)

Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers: Poems (National Poetry) Jake Skeets
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A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories

A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories Chelsea T. Hicks
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Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present Adrienne Keene, Ciara Sana
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