SPECIAL FEATURE

Children comprise nearly one-third of American Indians and Alaska natives. (Photo by U.S. Census Bureau.) American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2004 [PDF]

American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month originated in 1915 when the president of the Congress of American Indian Associations issued a proclamation declaring the second Saturday in May of each year as American Indian Day. The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916 in New York. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations have been issued every year since 1994. Complete text

Hispanics now represent the largest minority group in the United States, but their population growth has not translated into commensurate political power, largely because their voter turnout is low. Some Hispanic organizations are working to reverse that trend. Complete text

Music, dance and storytelling have helped tens of thousands of visitors to the First Americans Festival in Washington learn about the proud traditions and cultures of the first peoples of the Americas.

The September 21-26 festival coincided with the September 21 opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum opened with a colorful procession of an estimated 17,000 American Indians from nearly 500 Indian tribes and nations, most dressed in ceremonial regalia, from the Smithsonian Castle, the Smithsonian oldest building, to the NMAI. Complete text

Related Items:
National Museum of the American Indian
Census Bureau Facts for Features