November is Native American Heritage Month.
Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (D) visited the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center on Wednesday to mark the month and learn more about the tribe.
She encouraged Connecticut residents to visit the museum.
“They can come and learn about one of the Tribal Nations that existed in our state,” Bysiewicz said. “There are some incredible contributions that the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has made to our state and to our country, and people can come here and learn about some of the triumphs and also some of the terrible challenges they had to go through.”
Rodney Butler is the chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. He said the month is about awareness and understanding.
Butler thanked Bysiewicz for her visit.
“Bringing awareness to this month, to this facility, doesn’t just happen because we want it to happen,” Butler said “We need great partners throughout the state. And this administration supporting the Native American curriculum and requiring the state to incorporate that, being here today, this is what is important to us to make sure that we have people at the highest level, respecting us, honoring us, and sharing our message with the world.”
The Mashantucket Pequot tribe has been federally recognized since 1983.
Native American Heritage Month was officially designated in 1990, but its roots can be traced back to the early 1900s.
In 1916, New York became the first state to recognize “American Indian Day.”
