Yesterday, the White House published the proclamation for 2022. It begins:
"During National Native American Heritage Month, we celebrate Indigenous peoples past and present and rededicate ourselves to honoring Tribal sovereignty, promoting Tribal self-determination, and upholding the United States’ solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations.
"America has not always delivered on its promise of equal dignity and respect for Native Americans. For centuries, broken treaties, dispossession of ancestral lands, and policies of assimilation and termination sought to decimate Native populations and their ways of life. But despite this painful history, Indigenous peoples, their governments, and their communities have persevered and flourished. As teachers and scholars, scientists and doctors, writers and artists, business leaders and elected officials, heroes in uniform, and so much more, they have made immeasurable contributions to our country’s progress."
Chicago Public Library Events
"The Chicago Public Library’s Native and Indigenous Allies Committee invite all to learn from and celebrate our Native and Indigenous neighbors in Chicago, the Midwest, and all over.
"Please read CPL’s Land Acknowledgement in partnership with the American Indian Center in Chicago:
"The Chicago Public Library is located on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also called this area home. The region has long been a center for Indigenous people to gather, trade, and maintain kinship ties. Today, one of the largest urban American Indian communities in the United States resides in Chicago. Members of this community continue to contribute to the life of this city and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways."
Highlights of programs for the month: https://www.chipublib.org/news/celebrate-native-american-heritage-month-2022/
From the highlights page, you can click through to a calendar with all of the programs planned to observe Native American Heritage Month.
PBS on WTTW in Chicago
Culture, food sovereignty, history, and the path forward are all on the programming slate in observance of Native American Heritage Month on WTTW.
alter-NATIVE: Kitchen
Also on PBS, catch short episodes of alter-NATIVE: Kitchen. The episodes are just minutes long, but pack in a lot of information and inspiration. Though, you will probably want a snack after watching.
Episodes 1 & 2: "Brian Yazzie, a Diné/Navajo traveling chef, does presentations demonstrating Native cooking across the country while mentoring Native youth."
Episodes 3 & 4: "Kalā Domingo, a culinary student in Hawaii, cooks with his caterer father."
Episode 5: "Seattle-based chef Hillel Echo-Hawk focuses on traditional Pawnee foods, before Columbus and colonization, which means no dairy, no chicken, no processed sugar."
Episode 6: "All three Indigenous chefs featured in alter-NATIVE: Kitchen come together to prepare a multi-course meal of Native cuisine for a select group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Los Angeles, from Brian's agave-roasted rabbit tacos to Kalā's imu-cooked kalua pork to Hillel's painted like a Pawnee horse black bean salad. And just wait til you get to these talented chefs' dessert trio."