National

DOI hosts opening event for Native American Heritage Month

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Raina Thiele, the Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement at the White House, speaks at the White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C, on November 5, 2015. Valerie Jarrett, the Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, is on the left. Still image from White House / YouTube

The Interior Department is observing Native American Heritage Month with two events.

Raina Thiele (Dena’ina Athabascan / Yup’ik) of the White House will speak at the opening ceremony today. The event also features a Native food tasting, Native vendors and a panel about cultural understanding and environmental quality.

Thiele's speech, which takes place at the Office of Personnel Management next to DOI's main building in Washington, D.C., will be webcast at 10am Eastern.

Native American Heritage Month at the Department of the Interior. Image from BIA>

The closing event takes place on November 18. Kevin Gover (Pawnee), the director of the National Museum of the American Indian and a former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will discuss the apology he delivered to Native peoples in September 2000.

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn (Chickasaw), the current head of the BIA, will also appear. Webcast information, if any, hasn't been posted by DOI.