Native american heritage month

 

Each November, we pause to recognize and honor Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the histories, cultures and significant contributions of Native peoples. Native Nations have thrived on this land for thousands of years, and today, more than 575 federally recognized Tribal Nations continue to uphold their sovereignty and traditions. This year, we celebrate under the theme: "Native American Legacies: Stories of Strength and Survival."

Theme: Celebrating Stories of Strength and Survival

This year’s theme, "Native American Legacies: Stories of Strength and Survival," emphasizes the enduring resilience of Indigenous peoples. Over centuries, Native communities have faced policies designed to erase their identities and forcibly assimilate them. Despite this, they have found the unwavering strength to maintain their cultures, languages in preserving sacred lands, leading in areas like environmental stewardship and governance and in passing down invaluable legacies of survival, strength, and sovereignty to Indigenous youth. From the era of the boarding schools to contemporary movements for Indigenous rights, Native Americans have consistently demonstrated their ability to thrive against incredible odds.

These stories are more than just histories of survival—they are examples of the strength Native communities. For centuries, Native Nations have maintained their rights to self-governance, rooted in treaties that continue to affirm their sovereign status within the U.S. political framework. These legacies of strength highlight that Native peoples are not only survivors of historical injustices but leaders in shaping the future.

Progress Achieved

At San Diego State University, we are committed to supporting our Native American and Indigenous students. This year, we have celebrated some significant successes that aligned with Indigenous stories of strength and survival:  

• In the spring of 2024, our Elymash Yuuchaap Indigenous Scholars and Leaders program reached 10 years of uplifting the unique stories of Native American students at SDSU while providing resources to support their academic success.
• Our Elymash Yuuchaap scholars are a part of a program that is able to offer them full tuition grants as a way to remove financial barriers for students participating in this program, ensuring they can pursue higher education without limitation.
• As a part of our collaboration with the SDSU Political Science Student Organization, we brought more awareness to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives movement.
• This fall, we installed the third sculpture for the SDSU Living Land Acknowledgement project, which is an interactive augmented reality experience that includes Kumeyaay perspectives and worldview.
• We hosted numerous events, including the Graduate Student Group, our Indigenous Talking Circles, Indigenous Authors Book Club and Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Week of Action events, which highlighted powerful Indigenous stories of resilience.
• We celebrated the continued unification of Indigenous people and incorporated Indigenous Pasifika perspectives with conversations like “VĀSĀ: The Space that is Sacred” which taught attendees about the ocean as a way to connect Pacific Islander stories and traditions. 

Please Join Us

Throughout this month, we invite all members of the SDSU community to participate and engage in the Native American Heritage Month events which are designed to honor and create visibility for many different Native American Nations in the United States and beyond. Native American Heritage Month events are hosted collaboratively across Divisions and with new auxiliary partners to include the following:

• The SDSU Native Resource Center
• The Department of American Indian Studies
• The Office of the Tribal Liaison
• The Native American Student Alliance (NASA)
• The Indigenous Social Works Alliance (ISWA)
• The Tribal Gaming Student Association (TGSA)
• The Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming
• The Native American and Indigenous Scholars and Collaborators Project
• The SERVE: Indigenous Social Workers for Change program
• The Native American & Indigenous Faculty and Staff Association
• Inter-Tribal Sports
• The American Indian Recruitment Programs

Events will be centered around activism, art, stories, histories and so much more:

To learn about all the events taking place, please visit: 

NAHM Event Information will be on the NRC website page
NRC Instagram: @sdsunrc
NRC Facebook: @NRCSDSU

In solidarity,

Chris Manning 
Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity

Chris Medellin
Director for the Native Resource Center

Jacob Alvarado Waipuk
Chair for Tribal Relations, Tribal Liaison 

David Kamper, Ph.D. 
Chair for American Indian Studies