Citizenship Resources for Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month!

updated 11/13/2021

VOANews: Native Americans Seek to Raise Awareness of their History

In 1990 then-President George H.W. Bush approved a resolution declaring November "National American Indian Heritage Month," and it's been observed ever since. VOA's Alex Yanevskyy visited the Museum of Natural History in Utah on a day when Native American heritage was being celebrated.

Native American Leaders who passed during 2021

• 11/30/2020 Eddie Benton-Banai, 89, Ojibwe-Anishinabe, civil rights activist (American Indian Movement).
• 12/20/2020 Hank Adams, 77, Assiniboine-Sioux, civil rights activist.
• 01/02/2021 Carrie Dann, 88, Western Shoshone, indigenous rights activist and spiritual leader.
• 02/02/2021 Albert Hale, 70, Navajo, politician, President of the Navajo Nation (1995–1998), member of the Arizona House of Representatives (2011–2017) and Senate (2004–2011), COVID-19.
• 04/10/2021 LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, 64, Dakota-Lakota, historian and Native American rights activist (Dakota Access Pipeline protests)
• 08/06/2021 Rita Pitka Blumenstein, 84–85, Yup'ik traditional healer.
• 09/02/2021 Ruth Bradley Holmes, 96, American polyglot, Cherokee linguist, and educator.
• 10/13/2021 Earl Old Person, 92, Blackfeet-Amskapi’Piikáni, chief and Montana politician.

NEW for 2021:

• Happy National Native American Heritage Month! (plus POP Quiz)
• USPS Stamp Celebrates Native American Culture
• Navajo Nation TV and Film: 2021 | Veterans Day Tribute

More Resources:

• American English at State: Celebrate!
• Native American PowWows
• ELCivics.com 
• American Indian Tribes
• ESL Library
• International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (High Int)
• Trail of Tears (High Int-Adv)
• Wa-Tho-Huk (Beg-Low Int)
• LearningChocolate.com 
• U.S. Citizenship 5: American Indian Tribes 
• Planet Project
• The Navajo Nation | The Story of America's Largest Tribe video
• Searching for the Navajo language in Monument Valley video
• NY Times:
• The Thanksgiving Myth Gets a Deeper Look This Year article
• Now This: 
• Watch Full Roll Call at the 2020 DNC (features many Native Americans and Native Pacific Islanders--very moving--I cried!)
• SI.edu
• National Museum of the Native American, Washington DC
• Smithsonian NMAI: The Invention of Thanksgiving 
• National Postal Museum: Indians at the Post Office: Native Themes in New Deal-Era Murals
• National Postal Museum: The American Indian in Postage Stamps: Profiles in Leadership, Accomplishment and Cultural Celebration
• NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov
• Preparing the Oath: 100:59, 100:87
• US Census
• Facts for Features: American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2020 pdf / post

US Citizenship Podcast

• Deborah Parker (Tulalip) and the Violence Against Women Act (2013) video
• Native American Tribes Puzzle pdf
• A Citizenship Quiz in Honor of Native American Heritage Month (November)
• A Third Citizenship Quiz in Honor of Native American Heritage Month (2018) video / mp3 / pdf 
• A Second Citizenship Quiz in Honor of Native American Heritage Month (2017) video / mp3 / pdf
• 10 USCIS Civics questions focusing on Recent Native American History and Legislation (2016) mp3 / pdf

VOA News: Voice of America and VOA Learning English 

• These are recent stories and videos; search for more stories and videos.  
• After each story or video, try to ask and answer an appropriate USCIS Civics question.

1. #DearNonNatives: What Native Americans Want Non-Natives To Know
2. #NotInvisible: Why Are Native American Women Vanishing?
3. Advocates Seek Justice for Abused Native American Women
4. All About America Blog: Stunning Photos Capture Native Americans in Early 1900s
5. American Indian Charter School Wins Approval in Oklahoma
6. Are Federal Courts Harsher on Native American Offenders?
7. Art Thrives Among Hunters, Fishers in Northernmost Alaska
8. Bear Dance | VOA Connect
9. Becoming a Social Worker
10. Blackfeet Boxing Documentary Casts Light on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 2020
11. Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day Gains National Approval
12. Drums of Community Beats for Native-American Grads
13. Educators Try New Methods to Save American Indian Languages
14. English Words Borrowed From the Americas
15. For Native American Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors, Justice is Elusive
16. Goodbye Pocahontas: Photos Reveal Today’s True Native Americans
17. Google Honors First Native American Woman Engineer
18. Lakota Daughters (2020)
19. Lawmakers Propose New Ways to Help Native American Women
20. Lost Birds: Displaced, Adopted Native Americans Look to Find Their Way Home
21. Mapping the Missing: Cartographer Plots Disappeared Native Women
22. Many Native Americans, Citing History, Angry Over Trump Immigration Policy
23. Massachusetts Tribe Reclaims Language Not Spoken for Six Generations
24. Mattaponi Tribe's Pow Wow a Time of Celebration & Giving Thanks
25. Native American Journalists Debate Future of Media in Indian Country
26. Native American Pow Wows Celebrate Patriotism, Unity
27. Native American Rodeo: More Than Sport, It’s ‘A Way Out’
28. Native American Tribe Battles to Keep Land
29. Native American Two-Spirits Look to Reclaim Lost Heritage
30. Native Americans Call for Rethinking of Bering Strait Theory
31. Native Americans No Closer to Learning Fates of Boarding School Ancestors
32. Native Americans Played Pivotal Role in the First Thanksgiving 
33. Native Americans Say Law That Protects Children at Risk
34. Native Americans Seek to Raise Awareness of their History
35. Native Americans Work to Break Down Barriers to Voting
36. Navajo Nation Marks 150th Anniversary of Bosque Redondo Treaty
37. NEH Funds Native American Cultural Projects
38. New Mexico Democrat Poised to Become First Native American Congresswoman
39. New Exhibit Examines Native American Imagery in US Culture
40. Rare Horse Breed Revived for Choctaw Nation
41. Record Number of Native American Women to Run in 2018 Midterm Polls
42. Report: US News Media Part of the Problem in Misunderstanding Native Americans
43. Rise in Hate Crimes Alarms Native American Communities
44. Separating Myth and Fact About Pocahontas
45. Squanto: From Slave to Diplomat
46. The REDress Project Highlights Missing, Murdered Native American Women
47. This is America: Visiting Sacred Grounds in National Park Monuments
48. Traditional Samoan Tattoo Ritual
49. US Supreme Court Deems Half of Oklahoma a Native American Reservation (2020)
50. US Rules Descendants of Cherokees' Former Slaves Have Full Tribal Rights
51. Utah Monument Fight Reflects National Debate
52. Water, Stone and History in Navajo Land
53. Whales Revered as Center of Alaska Inupiat Life
54. Why Aren't More Native Americans Members of the US Congress?
55. VOA News Videos About Native American Culture and News