Honoring Our Roots: A Tribute to National Native American Heritage Month

November is National Native American Heritage Month, which celebrates the history and contributions of Native Americans. Russell Means, Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means mentioned “Tourists came around and looked into our tipis. That those were the homes we choose to live in didn`t bother them at all. The untied the door, opened the flap, and barged right in, touching our things, poking through our bedrolls, inspecting everything. It boggles my mind that tourists feel they have the God-given right to intrude everywhere.”

During this highlighted month, I encourage us to center the experience of Native Americans through learning about their experiences, unlearning what we were told, and relearning how to function in a less Columbus-ed world where respect is given to the land and the peoples found there.

Five Thoughts from SPG

1. You cannot discover what has always been there. This is a point of privilege and as Spike Lee once said, a "Columbus-ing" of the world.
2. Native American history will continue to reveal and define colonialism that has been overlooked, intentionally misunderstood, and seen as irrelevant, when in fact, it is the air we breathe.
3. "Decolonization" highlights the notion that whiteness was never first, the norm, or better, but an imposition.
4. What is new to us may not be new to the world. Continue to learn while also realizing that what is new to you is not new to others.
5. Colonization was the ultimate intrusion that we could not imagine elsewhere, yet maintains reality here.

Four Questions from SPG

1. Does your organization have -- not only a land acknowledgement -- but wrap around resources that require folks to learn about the history of the land, its original peoples, and how to respect the land it mentions?

2. How can your organization continue to lift the experiences of Native Americans within or connected to the history of your organization?

3. What are lessons that we should learn from Native American communities that sustain us, the land, and our loved ones?

4. How can you learn more about indigenous peoples without hiding behind a book or a podcast?

Three Quotes from SPG

1. “The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers; he belongs just as the buffalo belonged…” – Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux Chief

2. “Our land is everything to us… I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that our grandfathers paid for it – with their lives.” – John Wooden Leg, Cheyenne

3. “We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren, and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves, such as the birds, animals, fish, and trees.” – Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation.

Two Great Reads!

1. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning History) - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

2. "All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (Myths Made in America) - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz