Living The Heritage:
Native Identity Beyond a Month of Recognition

Published November 24, 2025    By Joshua Arce

Honoring Native traditions of identity, resilience, and land:
Why becoming #NativeAware matters

November is a special time for Native Americans.

November brings us the Full Beaver Moon during the first week.

November brings us a National Day of Mourning on the last Thursday of the month.

November also reminds us of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre on the 29^th.

November also brings us Native American Heritage Month — a tradition that began as a weeklong recognition in 1986 and was later expanded to a full month in 1990. It was established to honor Native peoples’ enduring contributions, raise awareness of their diverse cultures, and provide a more accurate understanding of America’s history.

But heritage is more than a single month. It’s lived every day by Native families, communities, and Tribal Nations. For 35 years, Partnership With Native Americans^® (PWNA) has partnered with Native-led programs that keep culture and community strong. As we celebrate this milestone, we are reminded that heritage is not just remembered — it’s lived, shared, and carried forward.

It’s hard to understand why we have a Native American Heritage Month without first understanding what heritage means to Native Americans. The first step of appreciating what Native heritage means to the first American – such as our culture, our food and our language – is the only way non-Natives can truly recognize Native American Heritage Month.   

What does it mean to Live the Heritage?

Living the heritage means embracing tribal identity in everyday life — through language, kinship, cultural practices, and connection to ancestral lands. It is about resilience: surviving past injustices and adapting to new challenges, while advancing culture so that future generations inherit more than memory — they inherit living traditions, knowledge, and community.

For many Native people, identity begins with a name, family, and Nation. Christian Skunk, from the Lower Brule Sioux in South Dakota, said: “My Lakota name is Cante Waste Wicasa (Good-Hearted Man). I emulate my Lakota name by always giving my time to the community and volunteering while also fighting for my people in rooms where their voices may be silenced.” Christian connects his traditional name to the responsibility he carries, shaping his world through his actions.

For Lissa Whiteclay from the Crow Nation in Montana, identity is also tied to language and family: “It’s our identity. I’m probably one of the few who speaks Crow still… [My late mother] would always tell us oral stories and morals. A lot of my beliefs are from her.” Lissa continues to pass her culture to the next generation through her language and stories.

Heritage is also about survival — not just enduring hardship but coming together to build unity and prepare future generations. As Tony Bush from Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Reservation said recently: “To be Apache is to be a person of love and being there for my family and others. We are supposed to grow up to be as one, not separate from one another.” As a community member and leader, Tony emphasized support, communication, honesty, and equality — principles that he believes are crucial to his Apache heritage.

To no one’s surprise, land is central to Native identity. It provides food, stories, and a sense of belonging. But when reservation boundaries were drawn, settlers often did not understand the land or the people who lived there. Artificial boundaries were imposed without regard for water, growing conditions, or sacred places, and that disruption changed traditional lifeways.

George Miguel from the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, described this plainly: “They gave us a little piece of land and figured, ‘Let’s put them in a little spot where they’ll stay.’ Little did they know that where they put us, all our traditional food is still here.” His words show that, even after displacement or confinement, the land still holds the foods, medicines, and memories that sustain his people.

Living the heritage means protecting that bond to a specific place or location. It means caring for the land, passing down knowledge about traditional foods and seasons, and keeping the practices that connect people to their ancestors and their future.

As we’ve seen, Native Americans and all Indigenous peoples continue to live their heritage every day through resilience, language, food, and the wisdom of the land itself.

But too many of their stories go unheard. Too many of their realities go unseen. Native Americans continue to face disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, poverty, and health issues. That’s why it’s important for everyone to become #NativeAware. Being #NativeAware means recognizing both the challenges Tribal Nations face and the ways Native peoples are advancing their cultures and communities. It means countering stereotypes with truth and standing alongside Native communities as they build sustainable futures.

We invite you to join us. Share what you’ve learned here with your family and friends. Encourage others to become #NativeAware. And if you’re able, support PWNA’s ongoing work to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions in Native communities by making your donation today.

I hope you take the time to reflect on how Native heritage is carried into the future. Together, we can ensure that living the heritage remains a source of strength, survival, and hope for generations to come.