SUBJECT:
Title
Native American Heritage Month Proclamation
Body
DEPARTMENT: Legislation
Department
PRESENTER: Justin Brooks, Mayor
First Name, Last Name, Title
TIME ESTIMATE: 5 minutes
only required for non-consent items
End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
Native American Heritage Month can be traced back as early as 1916, when the State of New York declared “American Indian Day” on the second Saturday of May. Sixty years later, President Gerald Ford proclaimed October 10-16 “Native American Awareness Week.” In 1990, the celebrations moved to November when Congress passed a resolution for National American Indian Heritage Month. More information can be found on the United States Congress <https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/American_Indian_Heritage_Month.htm> website.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation on Native American Heritage Month. The proclamation celebrates Native American people “[a]s 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.” President Biden names the injustices of past and present policies on their capacity to be represented in government, access healthcare and economic opportunity, receive adequate education, and overrepresentation of Native American women in human trafficking and violent victimization. In 2023, a Statista report with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that life expectancy for American Indians and Alaska Natives was 65.2 years, more than a decade less than the average life expectancy for the overall population (76.1 years). Factors that influence lower life expectancy include high poverty rates and intergenerational trauma. To learn more, please see Human Trafficking Search’s article on sex trafficking <https://humantraffickingsearch.org/traffickingofnativeamericans/>, Statista’s report <https://www.statista.com/chart/30991/average-life-expectancy-in-the-united-states-by-racial-and-ethnic-groups/>, and President Biden’s proclamation <https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/10/31/a-proclamation-on-national-native-american-heritage-month-2022/>.
BOARD PRIORITY(S) ADDRESSED:
ü Engaged and Diverse Community
ü Effective Governance
ATTACHMENT:
1. Proclamation