Governor Stein Proclaims American Indian Heritage Month

American Indian Heritage Month

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, American Indian Heritage Month is a time when we celebrate the history and culture of American Indians across the state; and

Whereas, American Indians have inhabited the state of North Carolina for more than 10,000 years but were not granted national citizenship until the passing of the Indian Citizen Act on June 2, 1924; and

Whereas, since 1924, American Indians have had a long-standing history of managing their governments, businesses, and programs such as workforce development, housing, and education, to sustain their communities, history, and culture as a people; and

Whereas, American Indians continue to live, learn, work, and contribute to the state and nation; and

Whereas, North Carolina is home to eight state-recognized tribes: Cherokee, Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi, Sappony, and 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, more than 130,000 North Carolinians identify as American Indian, living in all 100 counties and forming the second-largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River and the seventh-largest American Indian population in the United States; and

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

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim November 2025 as “American Indian Heritage Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all citizens.

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 twenty-first day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.