Dr. Arthur C. Parker, who was a Seneca Indian and director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, New York, believed we should have a National American Indian Day. He went to the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America to ask them to observe a day for honoring the history and culture of American Indians in 1915.

Several states began to declare American Indian Days on various days from 1916 on through the decades. In 1990 President George W. Bush approved a resolution to make November National American Indian Heritage Month.

Many schools have programs and activities during the month of November in which students study and learn about the history and culture of American Indians. I am always humbled and happy to be part of a school’s National American Indian Month programs. I am not Indian but I enjoy sharing with readers of my book, Pale as the Moon, what things I learned about the Indians who lived near North Carolina’s coast when the English explorers and colonists first came to the New World.

I explain that we do not know very much about life during that time since there are not many written records. What we do have are drawings and paintings done by John White, artist, scientist and governor of the Roanoke Colony. Those pictures show Indians in everyday life and those are the clues I found to help me write Pale as the Moon. I also bring along some “show and tell” items that the students can pass around and see up close, including arrowhead and pieces of pottery given me by Carl Bornfriend, director of the Frisco Native American Museum on Hatteras Island.

I am available for school author visits all year around. Pale as the Moon and An Independent Spirit are excellent supplemental reading for students learning North Carolina or American Colonial History. Contact me to book my visit to your school soon.