This month is nationally recognized as Native American Heritage Month, dedicated to honoring the histories, cultures, languages and contributions made by Indigenous people across the United States.
Christian Gonzales, associate professor of history and the director of undergraduate studies at the University of Rhode Island, said this month represents more than just a ceremonial recognition.
“[This month is] an attempt to address the history of American genocidal tendencies and actions toward Indigenous people,” Gonzales said. “By picking a month focused on acknowledging and valorizing Indigenous history, the idea is to highlight why that history is important and how we should understand it.”
By designating a dedicated month to highlight Indigenous history, Gonzales said that institutions can draw attention to the kind of legacy that has often been simplified to the masses.
Gonzales even warned that the observance of Native American history runs a risk of becoming just symbolic rather than progressive. In his view, when the discussion stops at appreciation, one might lose sight of what happened in history and how their legacies continue to shape society.
He added that the next steps will require some discomfort and questioning rather than a checklist approach.
“What drives these ongoing dynamics?” Gonzales said. “What are we doing now that repeats these processes? And what can we do differently?”
Gonzales addressed misunderstandings of how Indigenous history is taught in schools. He said that a common narrative frames the violent displacement of Indigenous people as a mistake of American values.
“This is categorically incorrect,” Gonzales said. “It wasn’t a misapplication of American ideals. It was a product of the very ideals the United States was built on: individual self-development, expansion [and] acquisition.”
He explained that dispossession and expansion weren’t a result of bad leaders and poor decisions, but the consequences of the ideals our nation was built on.
“These actions weren’t accidents,” Gonzales said. “They were outcomes of a civilization structured around extraction, accumulation and individual advancement.”
Viewing these events as predictable outcomes rather than historical mistakes allows students and educators to understand how they continue today, according to Gonzales.
When asked how students and faculty could engage with Native American Heritage Month in a more meaningful way than a simple acknowledgement, Gonzales emphasized the importance of learning, even in small ways.
“Understand that what you do matters, even if it matters briefly and even if it affects only one person,” Gonzales said. “Actions do not have to be dramatic to be meaningful.”
He encouraged students to learn local Indigenous place names and the histories of the lands the university students are using, such as Narragansett itself.
“Maybe it’s shifting your understanding of what Indigenous communities look like today,” Gonzales said. “Maybe it’s examining your own assumptions.”
While individuals cannot change the world, they can still play meaningful roles within it.
“You just need to be a responsible citizen in a world filled with crises,” Gonzales said. “What’s your role right now? Not as a savior, but as someone striving to make the world a little better even for a moment.”
As Native American Heritage Month continues, Gonzales emphasized that Indigenous history is not an add-on to American history, but a central part of it. While observances can be meaningful, he said, they should not end at acknowledgement.
