Skip to main content

Native American Heritage Day: Ways to Celebrate

Today, November 27, is 2020's Native American Heritage Day, a holiday worth celebrating and broadcasting. 

What is Native American Heritage Day?

When President Barack Obama signed this holiday into being in 2009, he said, "“I encourage every American to join me in observing Native American Heritage Day ... It is also important for all of us to understand the rich culture, tradition, and history of Native Americans and their status today, and to appreciate the contributions that First Americans have made and will continue to make to our Nation.”[Source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/597.html]

How can we honor or celebrate this day?

Buy Native, Read Native, Listen Native, View Native!

There are many Native bloggers, authors, artists, and entrepreneurs who you can check out and feature in your work on this day and throughout the year. 

Here is a link (http://www.nativeninetypercent.com/native-authored-blogs.html) to some Native-authored blogs and podcasts.

Here is a link (https://www.rakuten.com/blog/9-native-owned-etsy-stores-shop-native-american-day/) to some Native-owned Etsy shops.

Here is a link (http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/p/buy-native.html) to a more comprehensive Buy Native! list compiled by a native person containing products, art, music, comics, and more. 

Donate to Native Nations and Causes Where You Are!

I'm just going to list causes near me and/or close to my heart or heritage. Do some research to find out whose land you are on and how to support nations near you. 

The Cherokee Nation is a sovereign tribal government that takes care of its people and its culture. "The Cherokee Nation is committed to protecting our inherent sovereignty, preserving and promoting Cherokee culture, language and values, and improving the quality of life for the next seven generations of Cherokee Nation citizens." To learn more, visit this link (https://www.cherokee.org/). To donate, visit this link (https://www.cherokee.org/about-the-nation/donations/). 

The Cherokee Nation Foundation provides college preparatory help and college scholarships to Cherokee Nation members. To learn more, visit this link (https://www.cherokeenationfoundation.org/about-us?). To donate, visit this link (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=VBXTYHN67T9LL).

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has a mission “To  preserve  and perpetuate the history, culture, and stories of the Cherokee people”. To learn more, click this link (https://www.cherokeemuseum.org/contact/about). To donate, click this link (https://www.cherokeemuseum.org/contact/donate?)

Get Involved in Native Activism!

The main issues facing Native communities are not those of mascots and brand names, although those issues should also be addressed. They are issues of health, voting rights, educational equity, tribal sovereignty, disproportionate poverty, police brutality, disproportionate incarceration, human trafficking, and other similar issues. When you see Native people fighting for or against things that impact them, stand with them, but do things their way and use your ears more than your mouth.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, well... I don't really know what to say. I have a lot of feelings of being "not native enough" this year. So, I think I'll just leave it at that. Lift up the Native Americans around you this year, and please, give them money, too, lol.


 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Unnamed Friend

Dear unnamed friend, I carefully hoarded enough spoons to do the activity you suggested at the time you suggested. I went to bed super early and planned NOTHING for tomorrow to be able to do it. I just got discharged from psych this week, and the meds still aren’t all the way in my system, so I’m foggy-minded and emotional. I also woke up every 90 minutes last night for 30-45 minutes due to nightmares about the hospital that joined my normal nightmares. I told you I’d let you know around 9am today, when my alarm was set to sound, whether I could come to the 1pm event today, and I texted you that yes, I could come, but I needed to sleep until 10 to regain spoons. You texted me 4-5 times between 9:15 and 10, effectively cancelling any change I had to sleep, since it takes me at least 2 hours to wake all the way up. You tried to change the plans to pick me up around 10:15am, and I understand why. You were already in the area for something and didn’t want to drive all the w...
1 comment
Read more

Distress Tolerance Skills Part 1: Crisis Survival Skills

All posts in this series reference working through DBT® Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition , and all quotes come from that book unless otherwise specified. Goals of Distress Tolerance: Distress tolerance skills are important because distress is always going to be a part of life, and fighting against that fact causes more suffering. Distress is also part of making any change in ourselves, and if we shy away from that pain, we will be unable to progress. The Distress Tolerance Skills section of the book will be divided into two main types of handouts: Crisis Survival and Reality Acceptance. There will also be some material for "When the Crisis is Addiction". This blog will cover crisis survival skills. The distress tolerance section has 3 main goals: "Survive crisis situations without making them worse Accept reality Replace suffering and being "stuck" with ordinary pain and the possibility of moving forward Become free of having t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills Part 1

All posts in this series reflect working through  DBT® Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition . All quotes come from this book unless otherwise noted.  Deciding to Study Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills: According to the book, the reason for practicing interpersonal effectiveness skills is to "be skillful in getting what you want and need from others", "build relationships and end destructive ones", and "walk the middle path". There are some factors that can get in the way of interpersonal effectiveness: lacking the skills you need, not knowing what you want, being too emotional to be skillful, forgetting long-term goals because of what you want right now, "other people... getting in the way", and having thoughts and beliefs that get in the way. The thoughts and beliefs that were getting in the way of me practicing interpersonal effectiveness skills were: "If I ask for something or say no, I can't stand if so...
Post a Comment
Read more