Celebrating Native culture and the contributions made throughout history

MICHAEL FOSTER-SANDERS
and MADDY REMINGTON

Indigenous Peoples’ day is the day that we honor our fellow Americans of native descent. Native Americans built the foundation of our country and helped to foster the land that we
live on, long before our non-indignous ancestors knew it existed.

Native culture is American culture. The original habitants of America value spirituality, respect, and having a connection with nature. A lot of American media, literature, and values are endowed in these principles.

Indigenous people also had many incredibly valuable contributions that helped to build the America we know and love. On Indigenous People’s Day, we celebrate the people behind the contributions and the culture that shaped our past, present and future.

Indigenous peoples day is October 12 and is the counter celebration agains Columbus Day

Tecumseh (1783-1813) whose name means shooting star was a Shawnee Native American Chief who venomously fought against white settlement., and wanted to bring the other native tribes together to do so. After witnessing brutality by both settlers and Na- tives he tried to seek other ways of recourse to prevent violence. He believed the land was for everyone, and should not be regulated by people owning it. He fought against the US with Britain, and died on the battlefield. “Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.”

Sarah Winnemucca (birth year unkown-1891) made it her life mission to protect Native Americans and the expanding United States. She realized at an early age that the white settlers were not going to leave so along with her Native culture, she adopted American culture and took on the name Sarah. She documented her experiences with being a native in America through her four books that were published, and became an activist and spokes woman for Northern Paitue. “Be kind to bad and good, for you don’t know your own heart.”

Sacagawea is not only the most recognizable Native American, but she is behind the reason the United States of America was able to become what it is today. Without her, as a woman helping to dispel notions to the Native tribes that Lewis and Clark were coming to conquer and confirm the peacefulness of their mission, they would have never been able to successfully and peacefully explore the lands west of the Mississippi River. Sacagewea is one of the most notable figures in American history because of her kind contribution to help guide Lewis and Clark

Sequoyah proved not only that Native Americans were sufficient on their own but also that they were immensely creative. He is the first person to be credited with creating an entire language from scratch without any knowledge of another language. His contributions also are the reason that we know what we do of Native American culture and history. Without his creation of the Cherokee syllabary, the list of syllables representing unique sounds in the spoken Cherokee language. This syllabary helped us to foster an understanding of all that the Indigenous people valued and celebrated. However, it also made the Cherokee language readable and writable.