National American Indian Heritage Month, 1995

Proclamation 6847 of November 2, 1995

National American Indian Heritage Month, 1995

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

November is traditionally the season for thanksgiving
in America, the time when we reflect on the abundance
with which we have been blessed. It is especially
fitting, then, that we set aside this month to pause
and reflect on the many gifts bestowed on our land and
our heritage by American Indians and Alaska Natives.

American Indians have a great reverence for the earth
and its bounty, and they generously shared their
knowledge and their food with the early European
settlers in our country. We still enjoy that harvest
today, with an agricultural industry that supports
America and the world with the corn, potatoes, beans,
cotton, and countless other crops first cultivated on
this continent by American Indians.

A second and equally precious gift is that of courage.
American Indians and Alaska Natives have fought and
died for the United States of America in time of war,
answering the call to service to defend our freedoms.
The Navajo, Lakota, and Dakota Codetalkers were crucial
to our victory in the Pacific during World War II, and
it was a Pima Indian, Ira Hayes, who helped to raise
the American flag on Iwo Jima. They and so many others
have endured separation, hardship, and sacrifice so
that the world might know peace.

The gift of wisdom is one that our society has
struggled to learn. Living in harmony with nature
instead of seeking domination, American Indians have
shown us how to be responsible for our environment, to
treasure the beauty and resources of the land and water
for which we are stewards, and to preserve them for the
generations who will come after us. They have taught us
as well the value of sharing, of recognizing that there
must be room at America's table for all her peoples.

American Indians and Alaska Natives have made
invaluable contributions to our common heritage; in
every field of human endeavor, from the arts, sciences,
and humanities to politics, religion, and public
service, they have added immeasurably to the strength
of our civilization.

As we celebrate National American Indian Heritage
Month, we give thanks for these contributions and
acknowledge the special legal relationship that exists
between the tribes and the Government of the United
States of America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of
the United States, do hereby proclaim November 1995 as
National American Indian Heritage Month. I urge all
Americans, as well as their elected representatives at
the Federal, State, local, and tribal levels, to
observe this month with appropriate programs,
ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
second day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twentieth.