November is Native American Indian Heritage Month. This month is a time of recognition for the significant contributions and the continued impact of the first Americans--although every day is a good day to celebrate Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. We at TCCL promote and celebrate American Indian and indigenous culture year-round. Still, Native American Heritage Month in November provides additional opportunities for TCCL to share and honor the many colorful traditions of native cultures.
“The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.” From https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/native-american-heritage-month.
Visit our American Indian Resource Center online at www.tulsalibrary.org/airc and in person at the Zarrow Regional Library.
Events include:
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Native Culture Arts: Cooking Traditional Foods - Join Carol Tiger, Hompvks ce! Mvskoke Cooking and Catering, as she teaches how to prepare the traditional Mvskoke dishes of Hominy and Meat, Grape Dumplings and a surprise recipe!
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Native Culture Arts: Comanche Bows and Arrows - Join Willie Pekah as he shares his wealth of knowledge about making Comanche arrows!
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Yuchi Language Class will meet Mondays, Nov. 7, 14 and 28 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Zarrow Regional Library. The class is taught by Brent Deo from the zOyaha School of Language, and any and all skill levels are welcome to join.
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Kiowa Language Class will meet Tuesdays, Nov. 8 and 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Zoom. This class is taught by The Kiowa Language & Culture Revitalization Program of the Kiowa Tribe. Register HERE for the Nov. 8 class and register HERE for the Nov. 22 class.
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Stickball in the Park on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Bixby Library. Find details HERE.
Resources for Parents, Students and Educators
Book Lists
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Hoopla content:
Explore more content in Hoopla or Libby! Find Hoopla at www.tulsalibrary.org/downloads and browse Libby at www.libbyapp.com.
Take a deep dive with these activities and topic centers from the American Indian Experience, Pop Culture Universe and Daily Life Through History databases, all by ABC-CLIO. Just log in with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links.
Pop Culture Universe database (Log in to the database with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links):
- Native American Literature: The Contemporary Native American Novel
- Native American Graphic Novels
- Literature of the American West
- Luther Standing Bear
- Leslie Marmon Silko
Daily Life Through History (Log in to the database with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links):
- Basketry and Pottery
- Native American Clothing on the Great Plains (1540s-1870s)
- Field Hockey, Target Games, Football, and Lacrosse
- Cherokee Syllabary
- Apache Indians
- Indian Removal: Removal of American Indians to reservations destroyed tribal self-sufficiency (short video)
- Powwow
- Longhouses
- Indian Appropriation Act of 1851
- American Indian Childhood in Antebellum America
- Native American Women: 19th Century
- Native American Music (this reference article Includes inks to individual articles for Indigenous American Music of: Alaska, the Northwest Coast, the Pueblo People, Great Plain and the Eastern Woodlands.)
American Indian Experience database - Reference Articles (Log in to the database with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links):
- Indigenous Language Institute
- Muskogean Language
- Native Language Renewal
- Native American Languages: Great Plains, South, Northwest
- Pueblo Languages
- Wakashan Languages
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
- Creation Stories and Native American History
- Death and Burial Customs
- Conceptions of Ecology
- Native American Ancestors
- The Contemporary Native American Novel
- Native American Boarding Schools
- Native American Citizenship
- Native American Feminism
- Native American Grassroots Activism
- Native American Oral Literature.
American Indian Experience - Topic Centers (Log in to the database with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links):
Topic centers contain overviews, topic libraries, activities, reference articles and more.
- Modern Reservation Issues
- American Indian Civil Rights Act
- Native American Mascots
- Native Peoples in New Spain
- Land Conflicts
- Language Preservation and Renewal
- Native Peoples in the Dutch and English Colonies
- Native American Mascots
- Dawes Act
- Modern Reservation Issues
- American Indian Civil Rights Act
- Wounded Knee Massacre
- Spanish Influence on Native America
- Contemporary Tribal Economies
- Sovereignty and Land Rights
- Treaties and Conflict on the Great Plains
American Indian Experience - activities (Log in to the database with your last name and TCCL card number to access the links):
- Recognizing Native American History
- American Indian Boarding Schools
- Establishing Reservations: Cultural Depictions of Native Americans
- Spanish Influence on Native America: Impact of Euopean Exploration on Native Amiercans
- Trail of Tears: Indian Removal as Genocide
- Indian Policy in the West: Loss of the Plains
- Boarding Schools and Assimilation
- Dawes Act
- Native American-Themed Mascots
- Ancestral Puebloans
- Impact of California Missions
- Reparations
- Tribal Disenrollment
- Cultural Depictions of Native Americans
- Wounded Knee Massacre
Digital resources
- Mango Languages: Use it to learn Cherokee or Potawatomi! Access it at www.tulsalibrary.org/online-learning then create an account using your email address
- Are you up for a reading challenge? Visit the American Indian Library Association (AILA) Read Native Challenge 2021 page for details on contest information and ideas.
- Also, check out the Well-Read Native Indigenous Book Club website for more booklists, discussion questions, and more!
- National Parks Service: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/native-american-heritage-month.htm
- PBS videos, short films and documentaries: https://www.pbs.org/specials/native-american-heritage-month/