District to celebrate Native American Indian heritage

Posted November 10, 2009
By Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs

11/10/2009 - NORFOLK — In honor of National American Indian Heritage Month, Norfolk District will host a special program Dec 9 at 1:30 p.m., featuring a Cheroenhaka Nottaway Indian tribal chief.

Chief Walter D. "Red Hawk" Brown III, elected chief of the Cheroenhaka Nottoway Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Va., will discuss his tribe's origin and display artifacts representing its rich cultural heritage here in the multipurpose room of the Waterfield Building.

Throughout November, National American Indian Heritage Month, with its theme: "Understanding Native American Heritage Now and Then," encourages all Americans to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of this country's original inhabitants, explorers and settlers.

"The indigenous peoples of North America — the first Americans — have woven rich and diverse threads into the tapestry of our nation's heritage. Throughout their long history, they have faced moments of profound triumph and tragedy. During National American Indian Heritage Month we recognize their accomplishments, contributions, and sacrifices, and we pay tribute to their participation in all aspects of American society." -- Excerpt of National American Indian Heritage Month Proclamation by President Barack Obama

National American Indian Heritage Month began 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 United States.

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, Kan., formally approved a plan and directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation Sept. 28, 1915, declaring the second Saturday of each May, as an American Indian Day, and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.

On the second Saturday in May 1916, the governor of New York declared the first American Indian Day. Several states followed with a celebration on the fourth Friday in September. Other states designated Columbus Day as Native American Day.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush Sr. approved a congressional joint resolution designating November as "National American Indian Heritage Month."

American presidents have issued similar proclamations each year since 1994.