American Indian Heritage Day & Month

Thank you for joining us throughout November to celebrate American Indian Heritage Month. Echoing the words of President Obama on Nov. 25, 2009, when he encouraged every American to observe the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day:

“…it is important for all of us to understand the rich culture, tradition and history of Native Americans and their status today– and to appreciate the contributions that First Americans have made, and will continue to make to our Nation.”

Linking the national Heritage Day to Thanksgiving is fitting, given the contributions of American Indians that long preceded the first harvest of the pilgrims. For those of you who missed “The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving,” visit www.PWNA4hope.org to download it now.

We are moved by the generosity with which you shared our stories on your social pages, and by the comments you left on our blog – many of which echo the sentiment that videos like PWNA’s should be shown in the schools. Here is just one of the many blog comments that touched our hearts:

Marilyn Enness wrote: “Now is the time to rewrite elementary-, midde-, high school text books and curriculum. My school years in the ’50s-60’s lacked education of the truth, and as an elementary school teacher, 40 years later, I was teaching the same things I had learned! As I educated myself, I passed on info to the fifth graders, in a neutral matter-of-fact way and never did they side with the governing forces. They were appalled. It went against all morals and values they had learned in their 10 years of upbringing. Info is so accessible nowadays; hopefully local units can once again determine the course, if core curriculum goes to the wayside.”

We thank all Heritage Month participants and again congratulate our grand prize and giveaway winners:

Ina P. of Wisconsin:  Code Talker book
Michelle V. of North Carolina: Heritage Month t-shirt
Paula A. of Pennsylvania:  Crazy Horse book
Rhonda L. of Washington: Revenant movie DVD
Jeanette S. of Michigan: Squanto book
Martin B. of Minnesota.: Standing Bear DVD
Cynthia S. of California: Grand prize winner of We Shall Remain documentary DVD set

Please stay with us now through November 29 for updates about #GivingTuesday, and see how you can get involved at www.crowdrise.com/PWNA4hope2016.