A member of the Osage and Cherokee nations, Jerry C. Elliot-High Eagle was one of the first Native Americans who worked at NASA and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work as a flight control officer who helped save the lives of the three astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

High Eagle later authored the Congressional legislation for Native American Awareness Week — passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 1976 — which has since evolved into National Native American Heritage Month, observed each November to commemorate the history, heritage and culture of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.

To continue our commitment to our values, we recently provided our team members with some additional information and resources to encourage learning and understanding which helps us continue to build our culture of inclusion in the communities where many of our employees live and work.

National Resources

• 2022 Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month: The White House
• Q&A with Jerry Elliott-High Eagle on Physics Today
• Native Photographers in the Field: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
• Native American Heritage Month: U.S. National Park Service
• Native American Heritage on history.com

Boston (Burlington)

• “Native Lives, Native Stories” booklist and special events: Boston Public Library
• Events, videos, news & resources: City of Boston
• How you can celebrate Native American history and heritage: Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness
• Native American history: Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism

Kansas City (Leawood)

• Reading and film recommendations: Kansas City Public Library
• Local’s Guide to Native American culture sites in Kansas City: KCUR
• How to Explore Native American composers and music in Kansas City: KCUR

Minneapolis

• Native American Heritage Month Events & Exhibits: Meet Minneapolis
• Native American Heritage Month Special Exhibit: Minneapolis Institute of Art
• Metro’s Native American Heritage Celebration: Metropolitan State University
• Our Home, Native Minnesota: Minnesota History Center

Phoenix (Gilbert)

• Celebrating indigenous peoples of Arizona: Maricopa Community Colleges
• Upcoming events listing: Arizona State University Student Cultural Engagement
• Unframed: A Photo Journey Through Navajo and Hopi Nations: Arizona Historical Society
• Upcoming events: Children’s Museum of Phoenix
• Native American All-Star Comedy Night