Welcome to the Office of Diversity!
Native American/American Indian heritage Month
Native American facts: with sources
1.Did you know that Broadway street in New York was originally a trail called the “Wickquasgeck Trail carved out by the Native American Indians?
2. Did you know that during WWII, the Marines used Najavo “secret code” talkers to relay messages back and forth, a code that the Japanese never broke?
http://mprofaca.cro.net/navajo.html
3. Did you know that the names of over half of the states in the USA came from Native American languages?
For example, "Utah" is the Ute tribe's name for themselves in their language - "Oklahama" means "red people" or "home of the red people" in the Choctaw language - "Kentucky" means "planted field" in the Iroquois language.
http://www.racismagainstindians.org/Perspectives/Essays/DidYouKnow.htm
http://www.native-languages.org/state-names.htm
4. Did you know that the eagle was a national symbol to the Native Americans long before the white men arrived in America?
http://www.unitedsymbolismofamerica.com/excerpts.php?id=18
5. Many American foods we eat today have been derived from Native American origins. For example, they invented barbeque of meats and popcorn.
6. Did you know that in 1998, Buffy Saint Marie, a Native American singer-songwriter and producer received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in Canada in 1998, and was also made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
http://www.answers.com/topic/buffy-sainte-marie
7. Did you know in 1928, Charles Curtis became the first Native American Vice-president to serve under a President, President Hoover in the U.S.?
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/charles_curtis.pdf
8. Did you know in 1897, Louis Sockalexis became the first native American to sign a major contract with a major league baseball team, the Cleveland Spiders, which changed their name to the Cleveland “Indians”?
http://people.maine.com/publius/almanac/encycweb/htm/soclalex.htm
9. In 1990, it was the first time that a month, November was designated as National American Indian Heritage Month when President George H. W. Bush signed it into public law.
http://www.loc.gov/topics/nativeamericans/about/
10. From July 1, 2007 to July 1 2008, the population of American Indian and Alaskan Natives increased by 83,250, a 1.7% increase during the period.
As of July 1, 2008, the estimated population of American Indians and Alaskan Natives reached 4.9 million, making up 1.6% of the total population.
As of April 4, 2008, 562 tribal entities are federally recognized and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs by virtue of their status as Indian tribes in the United States.
http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/programs/iip/faq/recognized_tribes_2008.htm
In June 2009, President Obama has appointed Kimberly Teehee is the senior policy advisor for Native American affairs, promising to ensure a voice for the American Indians as policy decisions are made.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7846270
As of 2008, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota had American Indians and Alaskan Natives as the largest race or ethnic minority group.
Based on the 2008 American Community Survey for the American Indian and Alaskan Native alone population, 76% of American Indians and Alaskan Natives 25 years and older had at least a high school diploma. Also, 13% had at least a bachelor’s degree.
As of November 2005, 17,000 Native Americans have been through the AISES American Indian Science and Engineering Society and are working in fields related to science and engineering.
Shaun Tsabetsaye, a meteorology engineer in the Pueblo tribe led the University of New Mexico AISES chapter (UNM-AISES) from 2002 to 2004, making systematic changes to remove problematic complexities and gained tremendous momentum moving the chapter forward.
http://www.aises.org/Membership/MemberProfiles/Detail/9
As of 2008, Tom Cole, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and the only Native American currently serving in the House of Representatives is committed to serving the Native Americans living in Oklahoma and across the United States.
