Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine Community

Dear Colleagues,

November is National Native American Heritage Month, and we are excited to share information about this month with the Johns Hopkins Medicine community. National Native American Heritage Month started in 1976 as Native American Awareness Week with congressional authorization and a proclamation from President Ford, but the story starts much earlier.

Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode from state capital to state capital on horseback in 1914 and 1915, asking for a day of recognition honoring Native Americans and collecting the endorsement of 24 governors along the way.

Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and the director of the Rochester Museum in New York, convinced the Boy Scouts of America to be the first organization to set aside a day to honor the "First Americans" from 1912 to 1915. Since 1995, the President has made an annual proclamation encouraging Americans to use this month to learn more about Native American culture. We echo that call.

At Johns Hopkins we celebrate the diversity that strengthens us, fuels our insights and innovations, and brings out the best in our nation. In November we focus on celebrating the first inhabitants of the land that so many varied people now call home.

For an in-depth understanding of Native American culture, challenges and contributions, we are pleased to release this heritage guide as a starting point for celebration and conversation about Native American heritage and legacy. Throughout the month, as part of our special commemoration, we will feature Johns Hopkins employees of Native American ancestry in a Spotlight of the Week.

Please join me in celebrating National Native American Heritage Month. We are better together!

Sincerely,

James E. Page Jr., M.B.A.
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion
Chief Diversity Officer
Johns Hopkins Medicine