Native Americans
Native Americans dance as the National Pow Wow gets started Aug.12, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Representatives from many of America's Native American tribes are in town for the 2005 National Pow Wow, a social gathering of hundreds of Native Americans who follow traditional dances started centuries ago by their ancestors, which continually evolve to include contemporary aspects. Getty Images

November has been designated as the Native American Heritage Month, or as it is commonly referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

Starting Wednesday, residents across the United States will celebrate the rich and diverse culture of the 3.2 million Native Americans residing in the country keeping in mind all of the historical sacrifices they've made in the country, during the month of the Native Americans.

This month-long holiday is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to pay homage to the important and numerous contributions of Native American people.

Heritage Month also serves as an opportune time to educate the general public about the various Native American tribes who roamed and ruled the lands of the country long before the pilgrims came ashore in the U.S.

This month takes the opportunity to raise a general awareness about the various challenges Native people have faced both in the past and in the present, and the unique ways in which they have worked in order to conquer these challenges.

Dr. Arthur Caswell Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, New York during the 1900s, was one of the proponents of celebrating a day in honor of American Indians. He convinced the Boy Scouts of America to celebrate a day for the "First Americans" and for three years they set aside such a day.

The annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1915, formally approved to consider a plan concerning the celebration of an American Indian Day. The association's president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge was directed to call upon the country in order to observe such a day.

On Sept. 28, 1915, Coolidge issued a proclamation that declared the second Saturday of the month May as an American Indian Day.

The governor of New York declared the first American Indian Day in a state on the second Saturday in May 1916. Some states celebrate the fourth Friday of September as the day. Currently, several states have commemorated Columbus Day as Native American Day, however, it continues to be a day the people in the country observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.

In 1990, former President George H.W. Bush finally declared the entire month of November as "National American Indian Heritage Month."

During this month, several states celebrate it in different ways. Some host events including festivals, performances, dances to honor Native American culture while some conduct panels aimed at educating people about their history, challenges, principles, and practices throughout the years.

You can celebrate this holiday on your own too in order to honor Native Americans by reading about the plight of the people in books by renowned Indian authors like Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich among others. You can also listen to classic hymns and songs by renowned Native American musicians such as Steven Rushingwind and Annie Humphrey. You can just taste some traditional dishes like sweet potato soup, fish and cattails while reading or listening to their music.

Check out more about the celebrations on the website for National Native American Heritage Month here.

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