Native American Heritage Month is honored every November. This is a time to celebrate the culture, heritage, and contributions of the Indigenous people and communities of the United States.
Discover three Native American individuals who impacted our world, our senior living communities on native land, and key contributions to healthcare by Native American tribes.
Indigenous & Native American Icons
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte
Omaha Tribe
Dr. Picotte was the first Native American woman in the United States to become a physician. She was born on the Omaha Indian Reservation, where she was a public health activist and opened a hospital. Picotte Memorial Hospital served patients until the 1940s and now serves as a museum.
Sequoyah
Cherokee Tribe
Sequoyah is known for his formation of the Cherokee syllabary. Over 300 diverse languages were spoken by Native Americans, but there was no written form. Sequoyah completed his writing system of 85 symbols in 1821 and taught his first student, his six-year-old daughter Ahyokah.
These syllables remain in use today as Sequoyah’s name lives on through the Sequoia trees towering across the Northwest.
Representative Tawna Sanchez
Shoshone-Bannock, Ute, and Carrizo Descendent
Representative Tawna Sanchez serves in the Oregon Legislature, representing North and Northeast Portland since 2017.
She’s dedicated to improving the behavioral health system, investing in affordable housing, and strengthening early education. She also co-founded the Native American Youth and Family Center and helped raise 18 children in foster care.
Our Senior Living Communities on Native Land
Areté Living manages 26 senior living communities across six states, many of which sit on native land.
The Kalapuya tribe are the original inhabitants where many of our Oregon communities now sit, including the Areté Living home office, Avamere at Albany, Avamere at Bethany, Avamere at Hillsboro, Avamere at Park Place, Avamere at Sherwood, Avamere at Newberg, and The Stafford.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians owned the land where Avamere at Cascadia Village and Avamere at Sandy are located.
The Wenatchi tribe originally inhabited the land where Avamere at Wenatchee sits.
The Eastern Shoshone and Goshute tribes owned the land where Avamere at Mountain Ridge resides.
The Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute, and Western Shoshone people inhabited the land where Avamere at Cheyenne resides.
The Omaha tribe were the original inhabitants of the land where Ovation Heartwood Preserve sits.
Find out more at native-land.ca.
Native American Contributions to Healthcare
Healthcare wouldn’t be what it is today without the crucial contributions from Native Americans.
The first baby bottles were invented by the Iroquois and Seneca tribes, using a hollowed bird’s quill. In some areas, baby formula was made from ground walnuts and water.
Native Americans chewed willow bark to ease pain. The active ingredient in the bark, salicin, was the basis in the discovery of aspirin.
Indigenous communities created the first syringe using sharpened hollowed-out bird bone connected to an animal bladder that could hold and inject fluids into the body.
Native Americans mixed plants with water to create products that protected skin from the sun, including sunflower oil, wallflower, and sap from aloe plants.
Thank you for learning about Native American history. Celebrate cultural moments with us throughout the year by visiting AreteLiving.com/DEIB and following us on social media.
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