[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 44 (Monday, November 6, 1995)]
[Pages 1971-1972]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6847--National American Indian Heritage Month, 1995

November 2, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    November is traditionally the season for thanksgiving in America, 
the time when we reflect on the abundance with which we have been 
blessed. It is especially fitting, then, that we set aside this month to 
pause and reflect on the many gifts bestowed on our land and our 
heritage by American Indians and Alaska Natives.
    American Indians have a great reverence for the earth and its 
bounty, and they generously shared their knowledge and their food with 
the early European settlers in our country. We still enjoy that harvest 
today, with an agricultural industry that supports America and the world 
with the corn, potatoes, beans, cotton, and countless other crops first 
cultivated on this continent by American Indians.
    A second and equally precious gift is that of courage. American 
Indians and Alaska Natives have fought and died for the United States of 
America in time of war, answering the call to service to defend our 
freedoms. The Navajo, Lakota, and Dakota Codetalkers were crucial to our 
victory in the Pacific during World War II, and it was a Pima Indian, 
Ira Hayes, who helped to raise the American flag on Iwo Jima. They and 
so many others have endured separation, hardship, and sacrifice so that 
the world might know peace.
    The gift of wisdom is one that our society has struggled to learn. 
Living in harmony with nature instead of seeking domination,

[[Page 1972]]

American Indians have shown us how to be responsible for our 
environment, to treasure the beauty and resources of the land and water 
for which we are stewards, and to preserve them for the generations who 
will come after us. They have taught us as well the value of sharing, of 
recognizing that there must be room at America's table for all her 
peoples.
    American Indians and Alaska Natives have made invaluable 
contributions to our common heritage; in every field of human endeavor, 
from the arts, sciences, and humanities to politics, religion, and 
public service, they have added immeasurably to the strength of our 
civilization.
    As we celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month, we give 
thanks for these contributions and acknowledge the special legal 
relationship that exists between the tribes and the Government of the 
United States of America.
    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 
1995 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.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of 
November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:36 p.m., November 2, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 6.