American Indian Heritage Month - Let the experts from Fielding help with your coverage all month long

For almost 30 years, the United States has been recognizing November as American Indian Heritage Month. This goal of this month is to provide a platform for Indigenous people across the country to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life.

According to the US Census Bureau, the current total population of Indigenous Peoples in the United States is 6.79 million, which is about 2.09% of the entire population. Before the settlers arrived in the 15th Century, some historians have projected that population was in the tens of millions.

The history and story of the continent’s aboriginal peoples is seldom told accurately or with proper context. The reality is, since settlers first arrived, the treatment of Indigenous Peoples has been met with strife, poor treatment, death and colonization - with most often viewed as second-class citizens.

All month long, experts from Fielding Graduate University will be available to help journalists accurately tell the stories of the Indigenous People. If you are a reporter and would like to know more – let us help.

Four Arrows (Wahinkpe Topa) aka Don Trent Jacobs is a faculty member in the School of Leadership Studies at Fielding Graduate University. He is Cherokee and Muskogee Creek descent. He has authored numerous books and articles about Indigenous worldview and social/ecological justice.