In 1916, New York became the first state to declare an American Indian Day. Since then, there have been many attempts to recognize the contributions and achievements of Native Americans.
Before it gained national acceptance, Native American Heritage Day had been celebrated since 1976 when Jerry C. Elliot-High Eagle, a Cherokee/Osage Indian, authored legislation to create Native American Awareness Week. It became the first historical week of recognition in the nation for native peoples.
High Eagle was a physicist and one of the first Native Americans to work at NASA. He was on the mission control team for Apollo 11 and played a key role in the Apollo 13 mission.
Also in 1976, President Gerald Ford proclaimed October 10-16, to be Native American Awareness Week.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed November 23-30 American Indian Week.
President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution to declare November 1990 as the first Native American Indian Heritage Month. Since 1994, similar proclamations have been issued with different names including Native American Heritage Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.
The purpose of this month is to give Indigenous Americans the opportunity to share their culture, traditions, crafts, music, dances, and way of life with others. It was also intended to give them a platform to express their concerns to community, city, county, and state officials and work toward solutions to benefit and bridge the gap between local communities.
Agencies within the federal, state, and local governments are encouraged to provide educational programs for their employees about Native American history, culture, rights, and contemporary issues.
In a startling move away from recognition of Native Americans tribes and cultures, after proclaiming November National Native American Heritage Month in 2019, Donald Trump also declared November American History and Founders Month to celebrate the first European founders and settlers of America.
In 2025, population estimates for Native Americans and Native Alaskans are between 3.3 and 8.8 million. For Native Hawaiians and affiliated Pacific Islanders the estimates are around 400,000.For Native Americans and Native Alaskans, around 87% live in urban areas with only 13% living on rural reservations or tribal lands. The state with the largest Native population is California, but the city with the largest Native population is New York City.
There are five hundred and seventy-four recognized Native American tribal entities in the United States. Despite treaty agreements, the sovereignty of these federally recognized nations is still legally limited by their definition as wards of the federal government. While the federal government must consult with tribes about many issues, it maintains plenary authority which severely limits the rights of Native American Nations. In return, the federal government is in a position of guardianship making it responsible for the general welfare of Native American Nations, an obligation that has always been severely underfunded and largely ignored. There are also state recognized tribal entities not recognized by the federal governments.
The poverty rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives is estimated to be around 22-24%. In 2024, the poverty rate for the United states was estimated at 10.6% of the population. Compared with the national average, rates for Native Americans are more than double.
American Indians born within the territory claimed by the United States were not considered American citizens until 1924 although they have always been citizens of their own Nations which predate the arrival of any European settlers.
Native American communities experienced disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 mortality because of poverty and overcrowding in many Native American communities and limited access to healthcare and underfunded infrastructure.
On November 11, 2020, the National Native American Veterans Memorial opened at the National Museum of the American Indian. Harvey Pratt designed the memorial to inspire remembrance, reflection and healing. Historically, Native Americans have served at higher rates per capita than any other ethnic group. Today, more than 31,000 Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives serve on active duty, and more than 140,000 veterans identify as Native. It’s only fitting that the bravery and selflessness of these individuals is finally being honored in Washington D.C.
In October 2024, President Joe Biden apologized for the boarding school policies of the United States during the era of forced assimilation. Native American children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to boarding school where their hair was cut, and they were forbidden to speak their native languages or practice native customs. Many of these children were physically and sexually abused, and murdered.
Under the Biden administration, Deb Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, Secretary of the Interior. She is running in the 2026 New Mexico gubernatorial race as a Democrat.
During the second Trump administration, proposed budget cuts to federal programs for Native Americans and Alaska Natives threaten to harm millions of Indigenous People. Proposed cuts to programs like Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs would disproportionately affect Native communities. The administration’s war on D.E.I. could also adversely affect programs specifically designed for Native communities despite exemptions proposed by the new Secretary of the Interior.
In a further affront to the Native community, the Trump administration is about to open a pristine Alaska wildlife refuge, an area considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in, to oil and gas drilling.
On a positive note for Native American communities, the Trump administration supports efforts to return Native American artifacts to Native American Nations, so hopefully more of their culture can be preserved and passed down to future generations.
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