Native American Heritage Month Resources 2023
Native American Heritage Month is a month that celebrates the diverse cultures, traditions, languages, and histories of Native/Indigenous communities of the United States. It’s also used as a time to bring awareness to the challenges Natives have historically and at present face. Natives are still here. They are not just our past, but our present and future.
Provided below are some resources that can be used to learn more about Native cultures both nationally and in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Resources
Resource Centers:
https://www.mcnaa.org/
http://www.naicob.org/
https://www.masshist.org/
Federally Recognized Tribal Websites:
https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/
https://wampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/
General Resources:
Boston Public Library “Native Lives, Native Stories” Booklist
Boston Public Library Special Collections Sampler: National Native American Heritage Month
Indigenous-Owned Businesses List, created by Indigenous Student Organization at Tufts
WBGH Celebrating Native American Heritage Month Collection
National Resources
Resource Centers:
https://native-land.ca/
https://americanindian.si.edu/
General Resources:
IllumiNative
Check out IllumiNative’s resources to help fight against Native invisibility and erasure. Accurate information, authentic representation, and narrative disruption are essential to ending racism, bias, and discrimination against Native peoples. We need Indian Country and allies to work together and advocate for change.
Indian Country Today
Stay up to date on Native news with Indian Country Today.
Events in Massachusetts
Ask the Expert: The Real Thanksgiving Story
Virtual
Friday, November 10, 12-1pm
Learn more about the real Thanksgiving story, as shared by Brad Musquantamôsq Lopes (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Director of Wampanoag and Indigenous Interpretation and Training at Plimoth Patuxet Museums and Tom Begley, Deputy Director of Collections, Research, & Public Engagement at Plimoth Patuxet Museums. Together, Brad and Tom will offer historical and cultural perspectives related to the first Thanksgiving story and gratitude as a way of life for Indigenous Peoples.
Stolen Relations: Centuries of Native Enslavement in the Americas
Boston Public Library – Central Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116
Wednesday, November 15, 6-7pm
Registration Required
Join this panel of Native leaders and historians as they reveal the extent – and human cost – of the enslavement of millions in the Americas. Together a remarkable group of presenters, from the Nipmuc, Narragansett, Wampanoag Tribes and Nations, and from Brown University will collaborate in a unique live event to understand this hidden history.
Caring for Navajo Culture: In Museums And Beyond
Peabody Museum of Archaeology And Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, November 15, 6pm
Registration Required
Join Stephanie Mach (Diné), Peabody Museum Curator of North American Collections and Diné (Navajo) guests for a panel conversation about the ways they each care for Navajo cultural heritage within their various areas of work and interest.
Native American Pop Culture through Art & Design with Sebastian Ebarb
The Public Library of Brookline – Putterham Library, 959 West Roxbury Parkway, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Saturday, November 18, 10-11am
Join speaker Sebastian Ebarb through several case studies as we take a dive into Native American humor, art, and design! We’ll see how Native connections are being made through trends and social media and, given they are not a monolith, get a wide view of how Native communities connect.
Celebrate! With Wampanoag Nation Singers & Dancers
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125
Friday, November 24, 10:30-11:30am
Registration Required
Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers share stories of both their history and modern culture in an educational program that culminates with a full-audience dance in honor of Native American Heritage Month. During this annual program, the whole family can learn new movements and words in this participatory experience.