(photo: Smithsonian Institution)
By Bethany Brewington Cox, IT Project Manager
We celebrate and honor the culture, heritage, and contributions of Native peoples past and present. These remarkable Americans deeply enrich the quality and character of our Nation.
We recognize Indian Country with its wonderful diversity of American Indian and Alaska Native cultures and peoples, while remembering and honoring our Native American veterans and service members who have courageously served and continue to serve in our Armed Forces -- including the brave Native American Code Talkers in World War I and World War II.
Native American cultures are alive and evolving within cities, rural communities, tribal communities, and nations across the United States.
In 2013, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) was built as part of the National Mall in Washington, DC. The NMAI is dedicated to acting as a resource for the hemisphere's Native communities and serving the greater public as an honest and thoughtful conduit to Native cultures -- past and present -- in all their richness, depth and diversity. You can view online exhibitions here, including "Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces."
In southeastern North Carolina, amongst the pines, swamps, and dark waters of the Lumbee River, you will find the heart and homeland of the Lumbee People. The ancestors of the Lumbee came together in the shelter of this land hundreds of years ago -- survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language families, including the Hatteras, the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw. The ancestors of the Lumbee were recognized as Indian in 1885 by the State of North Carolina. In 1956, Congress recognized the Lumbee as an Indian tribe. This is the tribe of which one of our County employees is a recognized member. You can learn more about the Lumbee here.
Locally, the Chumash are the Native American people of portions of lands that are now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties. Modern place names such as Malibu, Nipomo, Lompoc, Ojai, Pismo Beach, Port Hueneme, Piru, Saticoy, and Somis have Chumash origins. To learn more about the Chumash tribe, you can go to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History or visit https://www.santaynezchumash.org/. An 11-minute video, "The Chumash People: A Living History" is available.