This guide is intended to provide resources to DCPS students and families about the indigenous people of the United States. This guide is a working document created and supported by DCPS librarians that is intended to grow over time. Please reach out to stephen.reichlen@k12.dc.gov with any comments or questions.
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.
Click the image above to access the SORA collection. See the link below to access a booklist from the SORA Collection for users not granted access to the online resources.
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by Borgna Brunner Are the terms American Indian and Native American essentially synonyms, in the same way that the terms black and African American are often used interchangeably? Or is using the term American Indian instead of Native American the equivalent of using Negro instead of black—offensive and anachronistic? Is the insistence on using Native American to the exclusion of all other terms a sign of being doctrinaire? |
Library of Congress Research Guides
https://guides.loc.gov/native-american-pictures/searching
Michigan State Native American Research Guide
https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=95603&p=624338
US Department of Interior Native American Heritage Site
Native American Heritage Month
https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/about/
American Indians in Children's Literature
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
https://americanindian.si.edu/
National Archives resources
https://www.docsteach.org/topics/american-indians
YOUTH IN ACTION: RECLAIMING THE STAGE
Tuesday, November 1, 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. ET
Online, available on demand afterwards
Can changing theater mean changing the world? Join us in a conversation with young Indigenous actors and playwrights who are reimagining Native representation on the stage. DeLanna Studi (Cherokee) will moderate a discussion between panelists Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), Emily Preis (citizen of the Osage Nation), and Isabella Madrigal (Cahuilla Band of Indians/Turtle Mountain Chippewa descent).
This program is free, but advance registration is required. A direct link will be emailed to registrants 24–48 hours in advance.
LEARN MORE HERE
This program is generously supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation.
NATIVE VETERANS PROCESSION AND DEDICATION CEREMONY
Friday, November 11–Sunday, November 13
Please join the museum as we honor the military service of Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native veterans on Friday, November 11. The Native veterans procession and dedication ceremony will take place on the National Mall in Washington, DC, as part of a three-day weekend celebration that includes hands-on activities, films, performances, and a veterans hospitality suite. The procession will be livestreamed.
For the full schedule, visit americanindian.si.edu/visit/washington/nnavm-dedication
NATIVE CINEMA SHOWCASE
Friday, November 18–Friday, November 25
Online
The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase is an annual celebration of the best in Indigenous film. Embracing their communities’ oral histories, knowledge, and ancestral lands, Indigenous filmmakers are seeking guidance from the past and envisioning new paths for the future. The showcase provides a unique forum for engagement with filmmakers from Indigenous communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and Arctic.
LEARN MORE HERE
Native Cinema Showcase is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
THANKSGIVING RESOURCES FOR CLASSROOMS
American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving
This teaching poster , designed for educators and students grades 4–8, examines the deeper meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday for Indigenous people through the themes of environment, community, encounters, and innovations. Appropriate for use at any time during the year, the poster includes ideas for classroom activities, as well as compelling information and images that are essential to understanding and teaching about American Indians.
·American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving (si.edu)
Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations
This helpful handout provides Indigenous perspectives on Thanksgiving and addresses incomplete narratives surrounding the holiday. Culturally sensitive activities and resources are included.
Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth Study Guide
The Indigenous people who first encountered the “pilgrims” in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, play a major role in the American imagination today. Contemporary celebrations of the Thanksgiving holiday focus on the idea that the "first Thanksgiving" was a friendly gathering of two disparate groups—or even neighbors—who shared a meal and lived harmoniously. In reality, the assembly of these people had much more to do with political alliances, diplomacy, and an effort at rarely achieved peaceful coexistence.
·Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth | Resource Overview (si.edu)