Governor Proclaims American Indian Heritage Month 2024

AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE MONTH

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, American Indian Heritage Month celebrates Indigenous people, honoring tribal sovereignty and this year’s theme, “United Tribes - 50 Years of Tribal Unity” underscores the rich history, culture and inherit strength of North Carolina’s recognized tribes and Indian organizations; and

WHEREAS, North Carolina is home to eight state-recognized tribes: the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Coharie, Lumbee, Haliwa-Saponi, Sappony, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, and the Waccamaw-Siouan; along with four Urban Indian Organizations: the Cumberland County Association for Indian People, the Guilford Native American Association, the Metrolina Native American Society, and the Triangle Native American Society; each of  these tribes and associations is represented on the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs; and

WHEREAS, today, there are more than 130,000 North Carolinians who identify as American Indian, living in all 100 counties, making it the second-largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River and the seventh-largest American Indian population in the United States; and

WHEREAS, education has always been valued highly by American Indians and as such, schools were established in all tribal communities across North Carolina to educate American Indian students, including High Plains Indian School, East Carolina Indian School, Hawkeye Indian School, Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, Wide Awake High School, and Cherokee Tribal School; and

WHEREAS, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, originally founded as the Croatan Indian Normal School in 1887 and later becoming Pembroke State College for Indians and then Pembroke State University, is now one of the sixteen universities in the University of North Carolina system; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, the North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission, the North Carolina Museum of History, and North Carolina’s Indian Tribes and Urban Indian Organizations collaborate on American Indian Heritage Month celebrations each year to increase awareness of American Indian history and issues;

WHEREAS, Governor Cooper has proclaimed 2024 the “Year of Public Schools” and the State of North Carolina has designated November 2024 as American Indian Heritage Month; we commend educators, past and present, who have tirelessly contributed to public education and academic freedom;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim November, 2024, as “AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

                                                                           ________________________________________

                                                                                                           Roy Cooper

                                                                                                              Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this thirty-first day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.