ANA Celebrates NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH 2023
Tracing its origins to 1916 commemorating “American Indian Day” in New York State, President George H. W. Bush signed into law a joint resolution designating the month of November as the first National Native American Heritage Month in 1990. Introduced by Senator Daniel K. Inouye (Native Hawaiian) and Congressional Delegate Eni Faloemavaega (Samoan), the joint resolution commends the immense contributions of Native Americans to our Nation.
ANA Commissioner Patrice Kunesh kicked off Native American Heritage Month 2023 in a video sharing her opening remarks, an introduction to 2023’s theme of “Seeds,” and an overview of the speaking program for the month.
Watch ANA's kickoff video here!
ANA presented a wonderful program of events throughout Native American Heritage Month that highlight this year’s theme of “Seeds.” We had the honor of programming four virtual events with distinguished guests who will speak to this year’s theme from a variety of fields of expertise. You can find out more about our fantastic panel of speakers and register for their talks below:
Dr. Karina Walters: “Watering the Seeds of AI/AN Ancestral Love and Wisdom to Create Healthful Families and Generations” 11/3/2023 at 1pm Eastern ZOOM
Dr. Karina L. Walters became director of the Tribal Health Research Office (THRO) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in April 2023. In this role, Dr. Walters works to advance initiatives to ensure Tribally informed biomedical and behavioral research, enhance NIH’s Tribal Consultation and Tribal engagement efforts, and coordinate American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) research and research-related activities across NIH and with other federal entities.
A social epidemiology and health prevention scholar, Dr. Walters has more than 28 years of AI/AN health research experience, encompassing foundational science, disease prevention, health promotion, and intervention research.
Diane Wilson: “Seeds & Stories” 11/9/2023 at 1pm Eastern ZOOM
Diane Wilson is a Dakota writer and educator, who has published four award-winning books as well as numerous essays. Her novel, The Seed Keeper, received the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. Her essays have been featured in many publications, including We Are Meant to Rise; Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations; and A Good Time for the Truth. Wilson is the former Executive Director for Dream of Wild Health, an Indigenous non-profit farm, and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, a national coalition of tribes and organizations working to create sovereign food systems for Native people. She is a Mdewakanton descendent, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. Wilson is a gardener and bog steward, living on 10 acres north of the Twin Cities.
Watch Diane Wilson's talk here
Dr. Melissa Lewis: “Indigenous Culture is Prevention” 11/20/2023 at 1pm Eastern ZOOM
Dr. Melissa Lewis is the program director for the Little Cherokee Seeds program. She is an Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and a citizen of Cherokee Nation. Her research includes co-creating and evaluating Cherokee cultural programs. Programs include Cherokee community building through reconnection with culture, history, land, and language, infant-mother language immersion, and a traditional Cherokee ecological knowledge youth camp. Her research has contributed to the body of work that demonstrates that Indigenous culture including language, foodways, and historical and cultural knowledge relate to improved health and well-being.
Rowen White: “Restoring Kinship Networks and Resiliency Through Indigenous Seed Sovereignty” 11/30/2023 at 1pm Eastern ZOOM
Rowen White is a Seed Keeper and author from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and 2023 James Beard Leadership Award recipient. She is the Educational Director and lead mentor of Sierra Seeds, an innovative Indigenous seed bank and land-based educational organization located in Nevada City CA. Rowen is the Founder of the Indigenous Seedkeepers Network, which is committed to restoring the Indigenous Seed Commons, and currently serves as a Cooperative Seed Hub Coordinator. As a farmer, mentor, leader, writer, and storyteller Rowen is deeply committed to a lifelong practice of embodied prayer that contributes to cultivating a culture of belonging in our ways of nourishing ourselves. She believes that by cultivating creative supportive learning spaces, reclaiming narratives, and practicing radical imagination, we can work together to seed the change for a more equitable and beautiful relational, kincentric food system that centers around a deep sense of belonging and connection.
View Rowen White's webinar here
NAHM 2023 Virtual Background
