"Thanksgiving should be celebrated by highlighting the contributions and sacrifices made by the Wampanoag. All too often Thanksgiving is celebrated from a Eurocentric point of view...."
Un-Thanksgiving: Native American Heritage Day & Month
In 2008, Congress, at the urging of Native organizations, designated the day after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day, a day to acknowledge living Native peoples, past and present. The first Native American Heritage Day was held on November 28, 2008.
Some Famous Native American Leaders
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White Buffalo-Calf Woman
American Indian Movement (AIM, 1968): Wounded Knee & Un-Thanksgiving at Alcatraz
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A Tribute to Native American Leaders for Native American Heritage Day/Month
Dennis Banks (born April 12, 1937), a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. He has been a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in 1968 with other Native Americans in Minneapolis. He's best known for leading the 1973 occupation by militant Indians of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. In February of 2012, Banks received the Living Legends Award in Washington DC for his contributions as a co-founder of the American Indian Movement and his ongoing committed to the well being of the American Indian community. Banks has also had roles in the movies: War Party (1988), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Thunderheart (1992), and Older Than America (2008). Banks also is involved in making music. The musical release Still Strong (1993) features Banks' original work as well as traditional Native American songs. He can also be heard on other albums: Peter Gabriel's Les Musiques du Monde and Peter Matthiessen's No Boundaries. In 2012, Dennis Banks joins forces with Golden Globe and Grammy Award-Winning artist Kitaro in celebration of our Earth in the new CD, Let Mother Earth Speak. Banks published his autobiography, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement, in 2004.
Clyde Howard Bellecourt (May 8, 1936) is a White Earth Ojibwe civil rights organizer noted for co-founding the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 with Dennis Banks, Herb Powless, and Eddie Benton Banai, among others. His older brother, the late Vernon Bellecourt, was also active. Clyde was the seventh of 12 children born to his parents (Charles and Angeline) on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.
Russell Means 1987
Russell Means in The Last of the Mohicans, 1992
Russell Means autobiography, 1995
Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was born an Oglala/Lakota Sioux Indian. After joining the the American Indian Movement (AIM) organization in 1968, he became its first national director, in which role he helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage, most notably the 1973 standoff with the U.S. government at Wounded Knee. He was a tireless activist for the rights of Native American people and also championed the rights of indigenous peoples in other countries. In 1987, he joined the U.S. Libertarian Party and announced his candidacy for the party's presidential nomination. Since 1992, Means went into acting and has appeared in major films: The Last of the Mohicans (1992), in which he starred as the titular Chingachgook, father figure to Daniel Day-Lewis' Hawkeye; Natural Born Killers (1994); and other movies. He has as well recorded two music albums; Electric Warrior (1993) and The Radical (2007). He authored his autobiography, Where White Men Fear to Tread (1995).
Bill Means, older brother of Russel Means, is the founder of the International Indian Treaty Council and currently President of the Board. He has been on the Grand Governing Council of the American Indian Movement since 1972. He is a veteran of Wounded Knee 1973 and helped coordinate legal defense work on over 500 Wounded Knee federal indictments.
John Trudell (Santee Sioux, born February 15, 1946) is an American author, poet, actor, musician, and former political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement (1973 to 1979), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. John Trudell is an acclaimed poet, national recording artist, actor and activist whose international following reflects the universal language of his words, work and message. In February of 1979, a fire of unknown origin killed Trudell's wife, three children and mother-in-law. It was through this horrific tragedy that Trudell began to find his voice as an artist and poet, writing, in his words, "to stay connected to this reality."
In 1982, Trudell began recording his poetry to traditional Native music and in 1983 he released his debut album Tribal Voice on his own Peace Company label. Trudell then teamed up with the late legendary Kiowa guitarist Jesse Ed Davis. Together, they recorded three albums during the 1980's. The first of these, AKA Graffiti Man, was released in 1986 and dubbed the best album of the year by Bob Dylan. AKA Graffiti Man served early notice of Trudell's singular ability to express fundamental truths through a unique mix of poetry, Native music, blues and rock. Since that time, Trudell has released seven more albums plus a digitally re-mastered collection of his early Peace Company cassettes. His 2002 CD, Bone Days, was executive produced by Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie and released on the Daemon Records label. In addition to his music career, Trudell has played roles in a number of feature films, including a lead role in the movie Thunderheart (1992) and a major part in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals. He most recently played Coyote in Hallmark's made for television movie, Dreamkeeper (2003).
Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), also known as Kanghi Duta was a Sioux musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life, he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He worked as a political activist for Native American causes.
PLAYLIST Thanksgiving Special 2012
SONGS Peace Pipe Prayer to the North, South, East, West Perry Silverbird United States Perry Silverbird Gan (Spirit of Fire) Perry Silverbird United States Perry Silverbird Huron 'Beltane' Fire Dance Loreena McKennitt Parallel Dreams Ancestor Song Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans The Vanishing Breed Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans History Songcatchers Dreaming In Color Cherokee Morning Song Walela Walela The Code Of Handsome Lake Robbie Robertson Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy Ghost Dance Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Eagle Song Joy Harjo Native Joy for Real Circle Of Friendship (World) Joanne Shenandoah Life Blood Wash Your Spirit Clean Walela Walela White Buffalo Rod MacDonald White Buffalo
BACKGROUND MUSIC Assorted cuts off of Native American albums from Perry Silverbird & R. Carlos Nakai
PLAYLIST
Un-Thanksgiving: Native American Heritage Day & Month, 2012
SONGS Ancestor Song Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Hanging from the Cross John Trudell Bone Days Blue Indians John Trudell Blue Indians The Warrior Walela Walela Paha Sapa Russell Means Electric Warrior: The Sound of Indian America It Is A Good Day To Die Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Grafitti Man John Trudell AKA Grafitti Man Making A Noise Robbie Robertson Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy Messenger (World) Joanne Shenandoah Life Blood Messenger Reprise (World) Joanne Shenandoah Life Blood Coyote Dance Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans A Postcolonial Tale Joy Harjo And Poetic Justice Letter From The End Of The Twentieth Century Sacrifice Robbie Robertson Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy All There Is To It John Trudell Johnny Damas And Me BACKGROUND MUSIC Assorted cuts off of Native American albums from R. Carlos Nakai
Columbus Day vs. Indigenous People's Day: Goodbye Coloumbus 10/8/12
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PLAYLIST for Columbus Day vs. Indigenuous People's Day: Goodbye Coloumbus 10/8/12
SONGS Born to Sing Van Morrison Born To Sing: No Plan B Educating Archie Van Morrison Born To Sing: No Plan B Ghost Dance Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Hey You, Hey Indian Russell Means Electric Warrior: The Sound of Indian America Crazy Horse John Trudell Bone Days My Country 'tis of Thy People You're Dying Buffy Sainte-Marie The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie Treaty Joanne Shenandoah Eagle Cries All There Is To It John Trudell Johnny Damas And Me The Code Of Handsome Lake Robbie Robertson Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy What Happened To The Tribes Of Europe John Trudell DNA - Descendant Now Ancestor Hanging from the Cross John Trudell Bone Days
BACKGROUND MUSIC Selected traditional Native American music
PLAYLIST for Columbus Day vs. Indigenuous People's Day: Goodbye Coloumbus 10/10/11
SONGS My Country 'tis of Thy People You're Dying Buffy Sainte-Marie The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie Coyote Dance Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Blue Indians John Trudell Blue Indians Hanging from the Cross John Trudell Bone Days Ghost Dance Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble Music For The Native Americans Crazy Horse John Trudell Bone Days All There Is To It John Trudell Johnny Damas And Me White Buffalo Rod MacDonald White Buffalo Treaty Joanne Shenandoah Eagle Cries Wounded Knee Walela Walela The Code Of Handsome Lake Robbie Robertson Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy What Happened To The Tribes Of Europe John Trudell DNA - Descendant Now Ancestor Look At Us/Peltier - Aim Song John Trudell Tribal Voice Powwow Songcatchers Dreaming In Color Now That the Buffalo's Gone Buffy Sainte-Marie The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie History Songcatchers Dreaming In Color A Postcolonial Tale Joy Harjo And Poetic Justice Letter From The End Of The Twentieth Century
BACKGROUND MUSIC Selected traditional Native American music
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