Native American Heritage Month and Giving Thanks
Native American Heritage Month and Giving Thanks
November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the culture, history, accomplishments, and contributions of people who were the first inhabitants of the land now known as the United States.
As this is also a time when many families in the U.S. celebrate a holiday known as Thanksgiving, this month provides a wonderful opportunity to educate ourselves and our children about the holiday and to acknowledge a history that is often erased in mainstream stories. Specifically, I encourage you to highlight the fact that Indigenous peoples have been celebrating the harvest and practicing thanksgivings for thousands of years! Amidst a global pandemic and several other significant events, this November offers a unique chance to learn about these traditional gratitude practices.
Here are some resources to support our own understanding of Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving, as well as some children’s book recommendations.
For Parents
Native American Heritage Month, Thanksgiving, & Thankstaking
Native students and Professor at The University of Colorado-Denver discuss the significance of Native American Heritage Month.
Teaching While White Podcast, Episode 10: Recovering the Voice of Native Americans in the Classroom
While this is geared towards teachers, there are important messages for parents too.
Around minute 7, Claudia Fox Tree discusses Thanksgiving and addresses the absence, erasure and invisibility of Indigenous people in the common story of Thanksgiving: “For thousands of years, indigenous peoples have been celebrating the harvest and doing thanksgivings - that’s what we call them as well - for the sun, the moon, the strawberries, the corn… you name it. And so the first thanksgivings on this land, were indigenous people. And to not acknowledge that goes into the ‘invisibility’ problem and myth.”
Check out the episode’s list of Resources for Teaching about Indigenous Culture & People, and see some of my recommendations below.
Children’s Books
Told in lively and powerful verse by author Kevin Noble Maillard, this beautiful picture book depicts a modern Native American family.
There is one page in particular that can spark a conversation about the fact that we are on stolen land:
FRY BREAD IS HISTORY
The long walk, the stolen land
Strangers in our world
With unknown food
We make new recipes
From what we had
Check out the book review from HereWeeRead or watch the author, Kevin Noble Maillard, read the book about here.
Visit the Author’s Page or check out ADL’s resources for Native American Heritage Month, including lesson ideas for Fry Bread.
Chief Jake Swamp provides a children's version of the Thanksgiving Address. It's one I used to read with my fourth graders, and one of Isabella's favorites.
This message of gratitude originates with the Native people of upstate New York and Canada and that continues to be recited at ceremonial gatherings held by the Iroquois, or Six Nations.
Read this book with your young child(ren) as a way to learn about the tradition of giving thanks to nature and to acknowledge the origin of the holiday, Thanksgiving. This is a great book to read year-round!
Check out this resource from Teaching Books to learn more about the book, access online readings, and get ideas for surrounding activities.
For more resources, I encourage you to explore American Indians in Children’s Literature and consider how you might use this month and next week’s holiday to center the voices and stories of Native Americans.