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American Indian Heritage Month November is American Indian Heritage Month. Since 1900, American Indians and non-Indians alike have sought to recognize the great influence American Indians have had upon the history, cultural development, and continuing growth of the U.S. Selected dates and weeks of varying months were acknowledged until 1976, when Congress authorized a week in October as Native American Awareness Week. Congress continued to enact yearly legislation designating various times until finally in 1990, the month of November was chosen because it is traditionally a time when many American Indians hold fall harvest and world-renewal ceremonies, powwows, dances, and various feasts. The National Indian Education Association (www.niea.org) was founded in 1969 and is the largest and oldest Indian education organization in the country. The mission of the NIEA is to support traditional native cultures and values, to enable native learners to become contributing members of their communities, to promote native control of educational institutions, and to improve educational opportunities and resources for American Indians and Alaska natives throughout the U.S.
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The holiday now known as Veteran’s Day began in 1926 when November 11 was designated by Congress to commemorate the end of World War I on that date in 1918. The holiday was named “Armistice Day” in 1938, but in 1954, after World War II and the conflict in Korea, the 83rd Congress amended the Act of 1938 by changing the word "Armistice" to "Veterans," and this holiday became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
The transition from military service to the civilian workplace can be challenging for some veterans, and the longer they have been in the service, the more difficult the transition can be. Those who have lived on military bases may be inexperienced at independent living issues such as signing leases and turning on utilities. Veterans are often accustomed to a 24-hour-a-day community vs. an 8-hour-a-day workplace structure, so they may experience loneliness upon separation. The well-defined chain-of-command veterans are used to in the military is much less apparent in the civilian workplace. However, the values of honor, discipline, work ethic and leadership that are cultivated in the military can serve veterans very well in civilian work, as well as the ability to handle stressful situations.
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Thanksgiving
is a day of celebration of the blessings that we have been given throughout
the year. In the United States, this tradition began when Governor William
Bradford set a day for fasting and prayer for the Pilgrims who had colonized
the United States. When this day of prayer was followed by needed rain, the
governor declared a three-day celebration beginning on July 30, 1623. In
1789, President George Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a day of
thanksgiving after adopting the Constitution. In 1815, President James
Madison proclaimed a day of feasting and thanksgiving for peace after the
War of 1812. Following several more changes in dates, in 1942 Congress
determined that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of
November, a tradition which continues to date. Citizens of the United States
typically celebrate this day of thanks by gathering with their family and
sharing a meal.
____________________________________________________________________________ Creating Inclusive Holiday Celebrations Any visit to a retail establishment in late October or early November will remind you (whether you want to be reminded this early or not) that the holiday season is only a couple months away. Similarly, this is the time of the year that planning for workplace holiday celebrations gets underway, or perhaps planning is already in full swing. I believe that most people approach holiday celebrations with good intentions, and wish to take into account the broad diversity of religious and secular traditions with as much multicultural competency as possible. At a minimum, we want to make it through the event without offending anybody! Rather than approach office holiday celebrations as a minefield of potential missteps fraught with politically-correct peril, we can choose to approach it as an opportunity for sharing, inclusion, and broader understanding. Several years ago at my office, the site committee approved the placement of decorated Christmas trees at the main entrances to each building on our campus. Within a few days, somebody who did not celebrate Christmas complained, and the trees were removed. The quick decision was made, in light of this complaint, that it would be better to have no observance of any holiday at all rather than offend someone. I think this was an unfortunate choice. It had the unintended consequence of changing a time of joy and celebration into a situation with the potential for resentment and negative feelings towards non-Christians. How can we do better? One of the primary goals of a comprehensive approach to workplace diversity is that we create a workplace where all people feel welcome, safe, and included. In accordance with this concept, a better approach would be to have the Christmas trees and also invite people of other cultures to express their most significant holiday traditions as well. This should not be limited to December holiday observances, since major holidays of other cultures may occur at other times, such as Chinese New Year and Ramadan. This gives everyone the opportunity to learn more about others’ traditions while feeling included by sharing their own. In the United States, approximately 80% of the people consider themselves Christians, so obviously this is the predominant religion. I think most people of minority faiths (or who profess no religious faith) should be willing to accept that fact that they will see Christmas symbolism in many of the places they go. Most symbolism that is used for decoration has secular origins anyway. Hopefully, the festive atmosphere and the messages of peace and goodwill can be appreciated by all people, without being made to feel like they are having a different religion shoved down their throats. Similarly, I hope Christians can be open to the expression of other major holiday traditions without feeling like Christmas is being stolen or subverted or marginalized. We can choose not to be offended, and we can choose to approach learning about other holiday traditions with openness and curiosity.
- by Dave Hughes (www.DiversityCorner.com)
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” - Leo Tolstoy The Diversity Corner is designed to increase awareness and build competency around workplace diversity issues. The content of this newsletter is selected and edited by Dave Hughes. Feedback is always welcome. Copyright © 2006 by Dave Hughes. Permission is granted to publish articles within this newsletter on a not-for-profit basis, with the following byline: “By Dave Hughes (www.DiversityCorner.com)” Contact Dave Hughes | Subscribe to the Diversity Corner | Unsubscribe to the Diversity Corner Your email address will remain strictly confidential and will not be used for any other purpose. |
Copyright © 2006 Dave Hughes
