Celebrate Native American Heritage Month at JSU's Little River Canyon Center
11/05/2013
Join educators from Jacksonville State University Field Schools and the National Park Service on November 16, 2013, at the Little River Canyon Center in Fort Payne, AL, as they honor Native American heritage through educational and fun programs. Learn how Native Americans create beautiful pottery from earthen clay, and make your own pinch-pot vessel! Observe how primitive Native Americans made their own tools and weapons, and try your own skill at tossing a spear with an atlatl! Discover what people did for fun before video games and television, and play a game of “chunkey” or stick ball!
Why do we celebrate Native American Heritage Month? What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States of America has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. 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. Red Fox presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed. In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 National American Indian Heritage Month. (Information courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior)
"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2013 as National Native American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate November 29, 2013, as Native American Heritage Day." President Barack Obama, October 31, 2013
Demonstrations and programs will be offered at the Canyon Center from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. All events are FREE.
Program Details
Native American Tools, Weapons & Games
Join National Park Service archaeologist Larry Beane for a demonstration of how Native Americans utilized natural resources to hunt and gather food, to make weapons, to start fires, play games, and more!
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2013
Where: Little River Canyon Center in Fort Payne, AL
Time: Demonstrations throughout the day (10 am – 3 pm)
Fee: Free
Primitive Fire Demonstrations
Fire was essential to survival for Native people as well as early settlers in Alabama. Watch primitive living expert, Ben Norton, from Gadsden, AL demonstration how Native Americans started and maintained fire.
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2013
Where: Little River Canyon Center in Fort Payne, AL
Time: Demonstrations throughout the day (10 am – 3 pm)
Fee: Free
Story Time: Native American Tales
Join volunteers for this fun hour of story reading. Books such as Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor will be read aloud to children and available for sale in the Canyon Center gift shop.
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2013
Where: Little River Canyon Center in Fort Payne, AL
Time: 11:00 am in the Canyon Center Lobby
Fee: Free
Native American Pottery Make & Take
Join expert potter, Tammy Beane, to celebrate Native American Heritage Month at the Little River Canyon Center. Visitors will see pottery demonstrations and learn how pottery was made on Lookout Mountain thousands of years ago. We will provide the clay as well as bone needles and paddles to make designs on your very own clay creation.
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2013
Where: Little River Canyon Center in Fort Payne, AL
Time: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Fee: Free, Donations to Friends of the Canyon Center Appreciated
Contact:
Renee Morrison
JSU Field Schools, Assistant Director
rmorrison@jsu.edu
256-782-8010