November 14, 2008 Friday

Native Heritage Month

To update one of my previous postings on Native American History Month. my research in the UAA Consortium Library and on the Internet has shown that November being Native American History Month was first enacted in 1916 in New York.

I think that Native Tribes from all over the United States should take advantage of this month to teach others about their tribes.

I have been lucky that the schools I have attended here in Anchorage all have recognized November as Native American History Month and have invited many of my elders to speak at their schools.

One of the elders my mother likes to talk about is Elizabeth Peratovich. She knew a family back in Bethel with the same last name. Elizabeth Peratovich was Tlinget like my Great-Aunt Pam See and was a person who called for Equal Rights for all people in Alaska when Alaska was a territory and an infant state.

There was a movie about Elizabeth Peratovich that played downtown at Cyrano's this weekend.