​Mark Native American / Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month in several ways.

November kicks off several awareness months and key external moments for ACS. Here are a few things you may not know and what you can do to help mark one of these occasions.

Native American / Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month

In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, under variants on the name (including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994. 

During this month, ACS acknowledges and works to mitigate the cancer burden and health disparities in Indigenous communities. We honor the ancestral stewards of this land and their descendants living in more than 1,000 Tribes, Nations, Bands, Pueblos, Communities, and Native Villages. We acknowledge the Tribal leaders, Tribal members, and community members who dedicate their lives to the field of tobacco prevention and control, cancer screening, environmental health, health literacy, community education, and policies, which benefit us all.

During this month, ACS will raise awareness about cancer risk and screening recommendations in the American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) population, urge AIAN communities to quit commercial tobacco use, and recognize the contributions of the AIAN community in the cancer space. Efforts will encourage members of the AIAN community to talk to a doctor about which screening tests may be right for them and encourage community members with messaging including, “Decades of research have found many reasons to quit tobacco. Start your quit journey today.” The campaign will drive people to www.cancer.org/Get-Screened.

What you should know

• In 2020, an estimated 9.7 million people identified as AIAN, representing about 3% of the US population.
• Continued systemic racism has resulted in limited access to health care, high-quality education, and economic opportunity for AIANs.
• More than half (54%) of AIANs live in rural areas or small towns where access to health care professionals, hospital services, and specialty care is limited. Increased distance to providers is an even greater challenge for rural residents who are poor.
• Nationally, cancer incidence among AIANs is higher than among Whites for lung, colorectal, and kidney cancers, as well as cancer associated with infectious agents (liver, stomach, cervix).
• Cancer is generally diagnosed at a later stage in AIANs than in Whites, with some of the largest disparities for breast and stomach cancers.
• Later-stage diagnosis and lower survival among AIANs likely reflect less access to high-quality health care and other obstacles to early detection and treatment.
• Although smoking has typically been more common in men than in women, the reverse is true among AIANs, with current prevalence 27% in women versus 24% in men.
• Both historically and contemporarily, AIANs have the highest smoking prevalence and the fewest quit attempts of any major racial/ethnic group in the US. The relative gap in smoking prevalence between AIANs and Whites has widened from 30% in the early 1990s to 56% in 2019. Reasons for the higher rates of smoking in AIANs are complex and include lower socioeconomic status (SES), targeted advertising, and deceptive tobacco product marketing.

What you can do

• Help ACS raise awareness about cancer disparities faced among this group, and about cancer risk and screening recommendations in the AIAN population.
• Learn more from The Library of Congress about this important awareness month.
• Check out a special section in Cancer Facts and Figures on cancer in the Native Indian and Alaska Native population.
• Amplify ACS brand social media posts on the topic.