这个活动始于世纪之交,目的是为了纪念第一批美国人对美国的建立和发展所做的重大贡献.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.
One of the very proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. 他说服美国童子军为“第一批美国人”专门设立一天,并持续了三年. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, 它宣布每年五月的第二个星期六为美国印第安人日,并首次正式呼吁承认印第安人的公民身份.
The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.
1916年5月的第二个星期六,纽约州州长宣布了第一个美国印第安人日. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.
In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, 自1994年以来,每年都会以不同的名称(包括“美洲原住民传统月”和“全国美洲印第安人和阿拉斯加原住民传统月”)发布.