[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59773-59774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-29393]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 59773]]

                Proclamation 7047 of November 1, 1997

                
National American Indian Heritage Month, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                American Indians and Alaska Natives have played a vital 
                role in the life of our country, and their many 
                contributions have enhanced the freedom, prosperity, 
                and greatness of America today. In celebrating National 
                American Indian Heritage Month, we reaffirm our 
                country's commitment to remember those contributions 
                and to honor the unique heritage of our continent's 
                first inhabitants.

                This special observance also reflects our continuing 
                commitment to American Indian and Alaska Native tribal 
                governments as an integral part of the social, 
                political, and economic fabric of the United States. 
                The framers of our Constitution incorporated Indian 
                nations into the political and legal framework of this 
                country, forever joining the destiny of the tribal 
                nations with that of the American people. By this 
                action, our founders charged themselves and future 
                generations with the moral obligation to guard the 
                rights and fundamental liberties of our country's 
                tribal peoples as zealously as we protect the rights of 
                all Americans.

                As we enter the next millennium, we have an exciting 
                opportunity to open a new era of understanding, 
                cooperation, and respect among all of America's people. 
                We must work together to tear down the walls of 
                separation and mistrust and build a strong foundation 
                for the future. To accomplish this, we must strengthen 
                tribal governments, improve the quality of education 
                for American Indian and Alaska Native youth, build 
                stable, diversified economies in tribal communities, 
                create high-wage jobs, and ensure that all our citizens 
                have the skills, education, and opportunities they need 
                to reach their full potential.

                The government-to-government relationship between the 
                tribes and the United States embodies the fundamental 
                American belief that people of widely varied and 
                diverse cultural backgrounds can join together to build 
                a great country. Such greatness can be sustained, 
                however, only so long as we honor the ideals and 
                principles upon which America is founded and abide by 
                our commitments to all our people. In recognition of 
                America's moral and legal obligations to American 
                Indians and Alaska Natives, and in light of the special 
                trust relationship between tribal governments and the 
                Government of the United States, we celebrate National 
                American Indian Heritage Month.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim November 1997 as National 
                American Indian Heritage Month. I urge all Americans, 
                as well as their elected representatives at the 
                Federal, State, local, and tribal levels, to observe 
                this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities.

[[Page 59774]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and 
                twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-29393
Filed 11-4-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P