There is an online petition calling for a National Holiday for Native Americans. Here is an excerpt from that petition. I have always thought that there should have been something like this.. and more education in the schools about the Native Americans.
NATIONAL HOLIDAY FOR NATIVE AMERICANS
Indian governments and the people they represent are requesting that the federal government bring about a National Holiday for Native Americans to be celebrated by all citizens of America and people around the world.
This holiday would pay tribute to Indian Tribal Leaders to include Alaskan Leaders and Hawaiian Leaders. This holiday would also pay tribute to those that endured the world's longest holocaust and most costly in human lives.
It is further stated that no Indian Government nor its people find reason to celebrate and pay for Columbus Day. Seventeen states do not recognize Columbus Day. The state of South Dakota has changed Columbus day to Native American Day.
Here is the link to view the petition.
http://www.petitiononline.com/indian/petition.html
Did you know? Some Native American facts…
That one in every 130 people living in the U.S. today is a Native American.
That during WW-2, the Japanese Army could not break the "secret code" of the U.S. Military. The "secret code" was simply a group of Native American volunteers speaking their Native Language on the field radios! (Navajo, Sioux and other tribes).
That the names of over half of the states in the U.S.A. came from Native American languages. For example, "Utah" is the Ute tribes name for themselves in their language. "Oklahoma" means "Red people" or "home of the Red People" in the Choctaw Language. "Kentucky" means "Planted Field" In the Iroquois Language.
That Native Americans discovered Rubber.
That according to legend, the Bald Eagle soared from the Heavens to guard the union of the five Iriquois states, when the Iriquois nation was founded over 500 years ago. In 1782, the eagle symbol was chosen for use on the Great Seal of the United States. That the great seal of the United States is pictured on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill. The designer, Charles Thompson, conspicuously omitted an explanation of the eagle in his official report, and instead, explained the covert meaning of the seal in a non- public document. This document was kept secret and disappeared in the early 1800's.
That the Bald Eagle, an important symbol in Native American legends, is used to symbolize the founding of the Iriquois Nation. An ancient Iriquois legend describes how one arrow, symbolizing one state, could be broken, but a bundle of five arrows, symbolizing the union, could not. The designer, Charles Thompson, was an adopted member of the Delaware tribe
and an expert on Native American History. He almost certainly was familiar with these legends, but the actual symbolism he described is lost to history.
That Washington D.C. ,our Nations Capital, is built on the banks of a river called the "Potomac", which is a Native American word for "where the goods are brought in". "Miami" ,”Cuba", and "Chicago" are a few more examples of the many familiar names that are derived from Native American words.