November is National American Indian Heritage Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans.
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Virtual Tour: Sitka National Historical Park - Totem Walk

In 2013 a joint project was undertaken by the National Park Service's Harpers Ferry Center, by Sitka National Historical Park, and by the Historic American Landscapes Survey to document the eighteen standing totem poles and house posts along the Totem Trail, in order to enhance the park's interpretive efforts and provide documentation for future preservation planning.
Take the Virtual Tour »

Image Credit: Totem Pole, Sitka National Historical Park (National Park Service)

For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw

Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw began recording Native visual history in the mid-1920s and continued for the next fifty years. This exhibition is based on the Poolaw Photography Project, a research initiative established in 1989 at Stanford University and carried on by Native scholars Nancy Marie Mithlo (Chiricahua Apache) and Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk) of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Exhibition preview »

National Park Service Travel Itineraries

These web sites are part of a series of travel itineraries that explore our country's past through visiting places listed in the National Register of Historic Places which reflect major aspects of American history and the Native American experience.

Image credit: Socorro Mission. Photo © Jack Parsons.

Native American Veterans

American Indians have eagerly served a government which did not always keep its word to their ancestors. They have volunteered to serve in conflicts from World War II to Iraq. Few encountered any overt prejudice while in uniform, but for all American Indian veterans, the honor of defending their country overrode all other considerations.
Veterans History Project »

Image credit: (Dan Akee (2004), Veteran's History Project)

For Teachers

Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids from the nation's premier cultural heritage preservation institutions.
Teacher's Resources »

Image credit: Sioux Chiefs (Library of Congress)

2016 Event Highlights

Lecture & Book Talk

November 2

My Grandmother Told Me We Have Indian Blood: Memory, Heritage and Native American Identity
In this revealing history of Cherokee migration and resettlement, "The Cherokee Diaspora", Gregory Smithers uncovers the origins of the Cherokee diaspora and explores how communities and individuals have negotiated their Cherokee identities, even when geographically removed from the Cherokee Nation.

(Library of Congress)

Film

November 3

We Still Live Here | Âs Nutayuneân
This film tells a remarkable story of language recovery and cultural revival by the Wampanoag of Southeastern Massachusetts. Their ancestors ensured the survival of the Pilgrims in New England, and lived to regret it. Now, contemporary Wampanoag people are asserting in their Native tongue, Âs Nutayuneân—We Still Live Here.

(Library of Congress)

Performance

November 5 & 6

Waking the Ancestors: Recovering the Lost Sacred Sounds of Colonial America
The arrival of the Mayflower in 1620 forever changed the lives of those living on the continent. This documentary theater program from Plimoth Plantation, a Smithsonian Affiliate museum, explores the intersection of two musical traditions: hymns and psalms from Church of England and Calvinist congregations and the sacred songs and dance of the Wampanoag. Free tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2638934

(National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution)

For Kids & Families

November 12

Storybook Reading & Hands-On Activity for American Indian Heritage Month
Celebrate American Indian Heritage Month and our national mammal, the bison! Listen to A Creation Story: Tatanka and the Lakota People, illustrated by Donald F. Montileaux (Oglala Lakota). Learn about the bison and the important relationship it has with Native people of the Great Plains. Make a bison button to take home!

(National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY)

Performance

November 24-26

A Celebration of Northwest Coast Dance
West Coast First Nations mask-dancing group Git Hayetsk (People of the Copper Shield) and Tsimshian dancers Lepquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim (Our Own Dance in Our Hearts) use humor and theatrical dance to introduce indigenous lifeways of the Northwest Coast.

(National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution)