Celebrate National Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month. We can thank Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a member of the Seneca Nation, to be among the first to encourage that the month be celebrated. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to allocate a day for the “First Americans” each year. Not long after, former President Calvin Coolidge declared an American Indian Day in 1915. Finally, in 1990, November was officially designated as National American Indian Heritage Month which we now call Native American Heritage Month.

With the days getting shorter and colder and Thanksgiving soon upon us, now is a great time to come and visit the Westport Free Public Library to learn about the cultures, traditions, and history of Indigenous peoples in the U.S. Read about the local Wampanoag tribes of the Southcoast. Learn how you can honor and celebrate this month.