Band Member Voices
November Culture Column - Native American heritage Month
By Nazhike, Mille Lacs Band Member
As Anishinaabe, the search for purpose and increasing self-awareness is being reinforced by opportunity. November is Native American Heritage Month in Minnesota. For many, it's a time for reflection and remembrance. It is also a time for reawakening, to serve as a reminder that our heritage is not something to observe for one month out of the year, but something to live, breathe, and build upon every day.
Too often, these recognitions are treated as moments of acknowledgment rather than opportunities for transformation. We might see our languages displayed, our foods and histories shared, all of which are important. And beneath the surface of celebration lies a deeper call: to remember who we are, where we come from, and what our purpose is as Anishinaabe. Our ancestors did not speak of heritage as something to honor once a year; they spoke of it as a lifelong responsibility to the manidoog.
This month can serve as a mirror, showing us both what we have kept and what we still need to reclaim. That means reflecting on how we can strengthen our connection to the land, the language, and the customs that define us. It means speaking our language, attending ceremonies, asking questions to our Elders and remembering that every teaching we learn carries a responsibility to share it to the future.
Our ancestors ensured connection to the manidoog, to the land, and to each other. That's where true understanding begins. During Native American Heritage Month, we can look inward and ask ourselves:
What am I contributing to my people? What teachings am I living, and what teachings have I yet to learn? These questions are not meant to burden us but to awaken us to where we get life.
Every generation of Anishinaabe has been given access to learn from the past and shape the future.
Native American Heritage Month is the perfect time to recognize teachings, honor the ones who shared language words to the community and those who bring their children to ceremony, who live their values with purpose. These are the people who will ensure that our culture is not only preserved, but practiced.
Our heritage is not behind us. When we honor our ancestors, we also accept our role as ancestors-in-training. The work we do today, the teachings we learn, the language we speak, will one day become the heritage that our future generation will cele-brate. That is the power and responsibility of being Anishinaabe. Our future ancestors are sending us back prayers for what we are doing today for their benefit.
So this month, let's do more than celebrate. Let's learn new words, ask a new question, visit an Elder, or share teachings. Let's use Native American Heritage Month as a doorway, not into the past, but into our collective future. Because when we honor our heritage by living it, we are not just remembering who we were, we are becoming who we are meant to be.
Miigwech.
