How to Celebrate: Native American Heritage Month
November is National Native American Heritage Month. It is a time to reflect on history, celebrate traditions and stories, and advocate for Native voices. What better time to take the opportunity to learn more about the Indian Nations and share what you’ve learned with others?
We invite you to read For All Girls: Native American Girl Scouts by Ann Robertson, chair of the Archives and History Committee of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. Ann recounts the history of Native Americans in the Girl Scout Movement and notes a push-back against some aspects of the residential school concept.
Though there is much work to be done and hard truths to reconcile, Girl Scouts continues its work to reduce harm and advocate for marginalized populations. Beautiful examples include Isabella and Sophia Madrigal, both Gold Award Girl Scouts currently enrolled at Harvard University. Isabella’s original play Menil and Her Heart discusses the MMIWG2S+ (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People) while centering community performance and cultural revitalization efforts. Sophia Madrigal is the founder and co-director of the Luke Madrigal Indigenous Storytelling Nonprofit, where she puts Indigenous storytelling in the spotlight.
We invite you to take this opportunity to learn more about the cultures of the Indian Nations in your state and across the country with activities to help you make discoveries, have fun learning, and even earn a fun patch! Learn more about Girl Scouts’ Native American Heritage Month Fun Patch today!
More ways to learn and show your support:
September 30 | National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – The day honors Indigenous Survivors and the children who never returned home from residential schools and the families and communities impacted. Orange Shirt Day is a day to raise awareness of residential schools' impacts and remind us that “Every Child Matters.”
October 14, 2024 | Indigenous People’s Day – A holiday celebrating Indigenous American peoples and commemorating their histories and cultures. This holiday is encouraged as an alternative to celebrating Columbus and explorers like him who created devastating losses for Indigenous Peoples through war, enslavement, and forced relocation.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian offers new possibilities and learning opportunities for the diverse cultures, histories, and contemporary lives of Native Peoples.
