What do most people think when they hear it is November? That it is close to Christmas? That it is almost Thanksgiving? Or maybe people do not really give it too much thought. But for Native Americans, this is their month, also known as Native American Heritage Month. This is a time when Indigenous people get to celebrate their tribes and ancestors. And most importantly, the fact that they are still here. 

Native Americans have been around for many years: 150 centuries in fact. They have fought for many years for their freedom, territory, and even their lives. For instance, most don’t know that, according to Z news, “About one in 10 racially-motivated bias incidents targeted American Indians.” That is their everyday. 

Many people are also unaware that “The rate for American Indians (124 violent crimes per 1,000 American Indians) was more than twice the rate for the Nation (50 per 1,000 persons),” according to American Indians and crime.

 In addition to these hate crimes, Native Americans are also dealing with issues over land rights. Their homes, where they raise families, make memories, and pass down reservations that have been in their family for decades to their children and loved ones, are taken away. 

As a reminder of all of these struggles and triumphs, November was declared Native American Heritage Month, which many people, not just Indigenous people, celebrate. They celebrate that they are still here. They are still here dancing their powwow, eating their bannock, and spreading their awareness that, even though their odds are not exactly in their favor, they are still living.