In 1990, President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November as a month to honor the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans. Similar proclamations have been issued each year since 1994 to recognize what is now called “American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.” However, the efforts to highlight the contributions of America’s first peoples date back since the turn of the century, according to the Native American Heritage Month website.
According to the latest census, 3.7 million people nationally identified as American Indian and Alaska Native only. There are 324 distinct, federally recognized American Indian reservations in 2022; and there are 574 federally recognized Indian tribes including seven in Virginia: the Pamunkey, Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan, and Nansemond. The Commonwealth of Virginia further recognizes the Cheroenhaka Nottoway, the Nottoway and Patawomeck tribes.
Fairfax County has a rich Virginia Indian history, including archaeological sites dating from the Clovis period (12,000 years BCE) through the colonial period. Many of these sites are protected by FCPA parkland throughout the county and studied by archaeologists with the Archaeology and Collections Branch.
