November is designated Native American Heritage Month. From nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov: “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 all join in paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans.” You can also read about how Native American Heritage Month came about on this website.
Some other websites dedicated to Native American Heritage Month:
- National Archives
- National Endowment for the Humanities (EDSITEment), a guide for teachers
- National Park Service
- Smithsonian Education
The library is featuring books by and about Native Americans this month. You can read memoirs, novels, histories, children’s books, and more, to learn about the experiences of contemporary and historic Native Americans. See the list of books included here. Some examples:
- An Indigenous People’s History of the United States
- An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People
- Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask
- There, There by Tommy Orange (a novel)
- Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo (a memoir)
For those who like to learn through other media, Kanopy has a featured set of films for Native American Heritage Month. And you can read about several new television series featuring indigenous stories in this article from The Guardian.
Also included in the exhibit in the library is a set of 3-D printed replicas of arrow points found around Lake Bomoseen in Castleton, from around 12,000 years ago. They were scanned here at CU’s Innovation Lab, and were donated to the college recently as part of the Benford collection.