Celebrate Native American Heritage Month

National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated every year in November. It is a time to celebrate the traditions, languages and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated island communities and ensure their rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, under variants on the name (including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.

The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana are the four federally-recognized tribes in Louisiana. The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana are headquartered in the towns of Elton, Jena, and Marksville, respectively. In New Orleans, approximately 2,700 people identify as having American Indian/Alaska Native background, comprising 0.7% of the city’s population. In Louisiana as a whole, the percentage is slightly higher, at 1.3%.

The original inhabitants of the land that New Orleans sits on were the Chitimacha, with the Atakapa, Caddo, Choctaw, Houma, Natchez, and Tunica inhabiting other areas throughout what is now Louisiana.

The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana is the only Louisiana tribe to still live on a section of their original homeland, with a reservation located near the town of Charenton, approximately two hours from New Orleans. The Chitimacha exerted much influence over the southeast region at the time of contact with European settlers, but were embroiled in a 12-year war against the French in the early eighteenth century. As a result, many members were enslaved, killed, and displaced south and west-ward. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the tribe pushed for land titles from the United States government but only a few hundred acres in the form of a trust were provided in 1916. Since that point, the Chitimacha have purchased additional land in the area and today own over 900 acres.

Since 1971, the Chitimacha have operated under a constitutional form of government and were the first tribe in Louisiana to adopt a constitution. Membership in the tribe is approximately 1,300, with most residing in Louisiana, according to the American Library Association.

Louisiana has numerous state-recognized tribes, including the Addai Caddo Tribe, the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogee, Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, Clifton Choctaw, Four Winds Tribe Louisiana Cherokee Confederacy, Grand Caillou/Dulac Band, Isle de Jean Charles Band, Louisiana Choctaw Tribe, Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe, and the United Houma Nation.

Land Acknowledgement

The New Orleans Public Library acknowledges the original inhabitants of this land. The City of New Orleans is a continuation of a multicultural Indigenous civilization on the Mississippi River known for thousands of years as Bulbancha, a Choctaw term meaning “a place of many tongues.” The Choctaw, Houma, Chitimacha, Biloxi, and other Native peoples have lived on this land since time immemorial, and the resilient voices of Native Americans remain an inseparable part of our local culture.

Considering our mission, we ask that you take some time to support Native authors. We recommend requesting a book by an Indigenous author from your local Library location. This call to action is a tangible way to help Native writers tell their stories, take back their narratives, and have their voices heard. We support your efforts to continue learning as we aid in avoiding superficial gestures and work to be equitable and inclusive for all. Explore our list of resources to start your journey.

We are holding ourselves accountable for a lack of collective action and demonstrated support to be in community with Indigenous nations. We ask our New Orleans Public Library community to join us on this journey to reject the superficial nature of land acknowledgments, to examine our relationships with the land we occupy, and to engage in meaningful activities to support reparative action for Indigenous communities. We recognize the symbolic nature of offering these statements, particularly given the emotional labor this creates for our Indigenous colleagues and communities to help craft them and the meaningful, reparative action that often fails to accompany them.

Take & Make Craft Kits

Pick up a craft kit for children to take and make at home.

All Library locations have a limited number of craft kits containing an instruction sheet and items to create a craft.

New crafts are available on the first Monday of each month. Additional supplies may be required and will be noted on the instruction sheet.

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, November’s craft is a Recycled Paper Fringe Wall Hanging, inspired by traditional weavings and tapestries.

Sponsored by the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library.

Share your creations with us by tagging our social accounts @nolalibrary or email impact@nolalibrary.org.

Streaming on Kanopy

The Library’s REACH Center team gathered titles from our free streaming service, Kanopy, that celebrate Native American voices. Click here to start watching.

Resources

If you’re starting your journey into understanding local Indigenous history and context, the below resources are a good place to start:

Indian Land Tenure Foundation — A national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands. They work to promote education, increase cultural awareness, create economic opportunity, and reform the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indian people from owning and controlling reservation lands.
Native Governance Center — A Native-led nonprofit dedicated to assisting Native nations in strengthening their governance systems and capacity to exercise sovereignty.
Beyond Land Acknowledgment — A guide developed and outlined by the Native Governance Center to help organizations move beyond written land acknowledgment and into action.
Association of American Indian Affairs Repatriation Project — The oldest non-profit serving Native Country protecting sovereignty, preserving culture, educating youth and building capacity and their current efforts to assist Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples in the United States with domestic and international repatriations.

This resource list and the Library’s Land Acknowledgement were curated by our Access and Opportunities Committee. The American Library Association also collected a list of Native American resources related to Louisiana’s Indigenous groups, which you can review on their website, ala.org.