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# National Native American Heritage Month
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/national_native_american_heritage_month_061120090744/
- Published: 2009-11-05T19:44:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:11:00.000Z
- Description: A history of American Indian Day, from Arthur C. Parker's push through the Boy Scouts and the first observance in New York in May 1916, to Congress designating November 1990 as National American Indian Heritage Month, with proclamations issued every November since 1994.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Miscellaneous, Health News, #vivvo-import

At the turn of the century there was an effort to gain a day of recognition for the contributions the [First Americans](http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/fo/shoshone/wilson%5Fbutte%5Fcave/teacher%5Fpages/First%5FAmericans.html?ref=foodconsumer.org) made to the establishment and growth of the United States. One of the early proponents of an American Indian Day was Doctor Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian who was the Director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, New York. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the First Americans, which they adopted for three years.

In 1915, the Congress of the American Indian Association approved a plan celebrating American Indian Day. The American Indian Association directed its president, Reverend Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe Indian, to call upon the country to set aside a day of recognition. The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916, in New York.

[Congress](http://answers.usa.gov/cgi-bin/gsa%5Fict.cfg/php/enduser/std%5Fadp.php?p%5Ffaqid=1399&p%5Fsid=iLts%2AeMj&p%5Flva=8445&ref=foodconsumer.org) first passed a resolution designating November 1990 as [National American Indian Heritage Month](http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/indian/?ref=foodconsumer.org). Similar proclamations have been issued every November since 1994.

For more information, please visit the following links:

- [Presidential Proclamation 2009](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-national-native-american-heritage-month?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [Native American Heritage Month](http://www.loc.gov/topics/nativeamericans/?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2009](http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts%5Ffor%5Ffeatures%5Fspecial%5Feditions/014346.html?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - American Indian Heritage Month NARA - Indians/Native Americans](http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/native-americans.html?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [Smithsonian - National Museum of the American Indian](http://www.nmai.si.edu/?ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)](http://answers.usa.gov/cgi-bin/gsa%5Fict.cfg/php/enduser/std%5Fadp.php?p%5Ffaqid=7908&p%5Fsid=iLts%2AeMj&p%5Flva=8445&ref=foodconsumer.org)
- [Tracing Native American Ancestry](http://answers.usa.gov/cgi-bin/gsa%5Fict.cfg/php/enduser/std%5Fadp.php?p%5Ffaqid=6884&p%5Fsid=iLts%2AeMj&p%5Flva=8445&ref=foodconsumer.org)

by USA.gov team