Native American Heritage Month Event- Native American Awareness Day, November 18th

South Carolina is home to the Catawba Indian Nation, the only federally recognized nation, and twelve recognized tribes & groups, representing over 43,000 people of Native descent according the 2010 US Census. These tribal communities are all “body politic,” and preserve their distinctive culture, heritage and history in South Carolina.

The Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois & United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc. have been sponsoring and leading the statewide observance of National Native American Indian Heritage Month since 1994.  In 2013, the SC state legislature officially designated November 18 as Native American Awareness Day in South Carolina. Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois, and United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc.  aka Cherokee Indian Tribe of SC,  is an organization that works to promote  self-determination, civil rights, religious freedoms, education, history, culture, and the arts of Native people. ECSIUT is a nonprofit that serves federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Natives and “state status” Native American Indian people, and is also a tribally based intertribal consortia.

Local  government officials Mayor Steven Benjamin, and Native American Indian leaders will gather at the Columbia City Offices on November 18 from 1:30 -2:30 PM  to celebrate the 3nd Native American Awareness Day in South Carolina, in conjunction with the local and national observance of National Native American Indian and Alaskan Native Heritage Month. There will be drumming, Native songs,   the reading of the Proclamations and H-Bill 3746 proclaiming this day, plus leaders from tribes and groups will speak and introduce their tribal communities’ history to the general public.

 For more information, visit http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/advocacy-AwarenessDay.html

this is also the Kick Off to the 18th Annual Native American Indian Film Festival of the Southeast, a community-based event which aims to present the richness and variety of indigenous cinematic expressions. The festival is a time to educate the public  about contemporary Native American talent and issues, Native themed documentaries, and to discuss film and the power it has to tell Native stories by Native people (and to entertain.)