National Native American Heritage Month

November is federally recognized as National Native American Heritage Month (NNAHM). During this month, American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are honored and celebrated for their rich and varied cultures, traditions, history, and societal contributions. NNAHM gives us an opportunity to become more educated about Native Americans, increase our knowledge of the unique challenges faced by this population, and better understand the historical and contemporary impact of Indigenous peoples on the nation.

National Native American Heritage Month

November is federally recognized as National Native American Heritage Month (NNAHM). During this month, American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are honored and celebrated...

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Mary G. Ross (Cherokee Nation)

Mary G. Ross, Mathematician and Engineer, Cherokee (1908-2008) Mary Golda Ross is considered the first known Native American engineer and is the first female engineer...

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Fred Begay (Navajo/Ute Tribe)

Fred Begay, Nuclear Physicist, Navajo/Ute (1932-2013) Fred Begay is the first Native American to receive a Ph.D. in Physics, specifically Nuclear Physics. As a young...

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Susan LaFlesche Picotte (Omaha Tribe)

Susan LaFlesche Picotte, Physician, Omaha Tribe (1865-1915) Growing up on Nebraska’s Omaha reservation, Susan LaFlesche witnessed an incident that influenced her destiny: a white medical...

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Lori Arviso Alvord (Navajo Nation)

Lori Arviso Alvord, Surgeon, Navajo (1958- ) Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord, a graduate of Stanford University Medical School (1985), is the first Diné (Navajo) woman...

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John Herrington (Chickasaw Nation)

John Herrington, Astronaut, Chickasaw (1958- ) John Herrington is a retired U.S. Naval Aviator, engineer and former astronaut. While climbing cliffsides as a surveyor as...

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Louise Erdrich ( Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians)

Louise Erdrich is an American author who has published 28 fiction, non-fiction, children's, and poetry books. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band...

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Edna Paisano (Nez Perce Tribe)

Edna Paisano, Statistician, Nez Perce/Laguna Pueblo (1948-2014) Edna Lee Paisano was a demographer and statistician. She received her bachelor’s degree and her Master’s from the...

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Thomas David Petite (Chippewa Nation)

Thomas David Petite, Inventor, Chippewa (1956- ) Preferring to be called by his middle name David, Petite’s full Native affiliation is the Fond du Lac...

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Bertha Cody (Seneca Nation)

Native, Seneca (1907-1978) Bertha Cody is considered the first woman Native American archaeologist and ethnologist in the United States. Since many of her family including...

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Quannah Chasinghorse (Navajo Nation)

Quannah ChasingHorse is a model and Indigenous activist. Since a Calvin Klein campaign in 2020 cemented her status as one of fashion’s fresh faces,...

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Maria Tallchief (Osage Nation)

In 1942, at the age of 17, Maria Tallchief moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. With luck,...

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Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee Nation)

Wilma Mankiller (born November 18, 1945, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, U.S.—died April 6, 2010, Adair county, Oklahoma) Native American leader and activist, the first woman chief...

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Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw Nation)

Jeffrey Gibson grew up in major urban centers in the United States, Germany, Korea, England and elsewhere. He is also a member of the...

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Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota Tribe)

Sean Sherman, 46, founder of the Sioux Chef and Indigenous Food Lab, is working to teach Indigenous people about ancestral food traditions. Sherman’s approach...

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Judge Diane J. Humetewa ( Hopi Tribe)

U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa is the first female Native American judge to serve on the federal bench. Humetewa grew up in Phoenix...

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Judge Terri Yellowhammer (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)

Judge Terri Yellowhammer grew up in north Minneapolis. Yellowhammer is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe with heritage in the White Earth...

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Lauren Good Day (Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, Plains Cree Tribe)

Award-winning artist Lauren Good Day is famous for intertwining old traditions with modern culture. Her art has been featured at some of the nation’s...

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Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee Nation)

Best known for her majestic landscape paintings, Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick is famous for incorporating various elements into her paintings that are viewed as...

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Creed Humphrey (Potawatomi Nation)

A native of Shawnee, Oklahoma, and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Creed Humphrey is the current center for the Kansas City Chiefs...

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Jason Mamoa (Pawnee, Native Hawaiian)

An only child, Momoa was born on August 1, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. His...

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Gil Birmingham (Comanche Nation)

Gilbert Birmingham was born in San Antonio, Texas. He identifies his father as being of Comanche descent. His family moved frequently during his childhood...

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Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva Tribe)

Weshoyot Alvitre is a Tongva and Scottish comic book artist, writer and illustrator. She was born in the Santa Monica Mountains on the property...

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Ashton Locklear (Lumbee Tribe)

Ashton Taylor Locklear (born January 13, 1998) is a retired American artistic gymnast from North Carolina. At a young age, Locklear watched her older...

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