Native American Heritage Month: A Brief Timeline

1915

• Dr. Arthur C. Parker, director of the Museum of Arts & Science in Rochester, NY, and a Seneca Indian, pushed for a ‘First Americans Day’ through Boy Scouts of America.

• Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians, and presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House.

• Congress of the American Indian Association approves plan through its president Rev. Sherman Coolidge to observe the 2^nd Saturday of May as American Indian Day.

1916

• The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York.

1986

• Congress passed Pub. L. 99-471,which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week of November 23-30, 1986 as “American Indian Week.”

1990

• President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” It is now called National Native American Heritage Month. Click here to read the September 28th, 1990 Notes on National American Indian Heritage Month by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.