This article was written by City Cast editor Natalia Aldana. Francesca Dabecco adapted the article with local resources for Hey Pittsburgh.
November was officially designated a heritage month in 1990 to recognize America’s original inhabitants and celebrate their rich culture and contributions, then referred to as National American Indian Heritage Month. However, efforts to pay tribute to Indigenous people started long before.
Red Fox James, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, rode horseback across the U.S. seeking approval for a day to honor Native Americans. In 1915, he presented an endorsement from 24 states to the White House. The first official American Indian Day was declared by the New York state governor in May 1916. President Joe Biden’s 2024 proclamation for this heritage month makes a commitment to work with Native communities to “write a new and better chapter in American history.”
There are 574 federally recognized nations, tribes, and pueblos within the U.S. comprising about 9 million people who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native American, and Indigenous. Self-governance is at the heart of Native people’s ability to protect and enhance the health, safety, and welfare of their communities.
Here’s how to pay tribute in Pittsburgh this month:
- 🎧 Learn about whose land Pittsburgh is built on: The Wyandot, Monongahela, Delaware, Shawnee, and Iroquois peoples. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]
- 🤓 Head to the Fort Pitt Museum to explore the Homelands: Native Nations of Allegheny exhibit, created in collaboration with Delaware, Seneca, Seneca-Cayuga, and Shawnee tribes.
- 📖 Check out these works from the Carnegie Library that celebrate Indigenous heritage.
- 🍎 Donate to the Singing Woods Food Pantry in partnership with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center’s Elders Program.
- 💵 Shop from Native artists, writers, furniture makers, and more at Four Winds Gallery.
