Celebrating Native American Heritage Day [Video]

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The day after Thanksgiving commemorates Native American Heritage Day, honoring the culture and history of the first people in the United States.

The Day was officially proclaimed by former President Barack Obama, with unanimous support from the House and Senate in 2009.

“It’s… a chance for us to come together as a community and remember our culture,” Carla Vigue, the director of Tribal Relations at UW-Madison, said.

Vigue celebrates Native American Heritage Day as a citizen of the Oneida Nation. In Wisconsin, there are 11 federally recognized tribes.

“In Madison, there’s the Ho-Chunk, in Green Bay, Oneida is right there, Vigue said. ”Up North, there are number of Objiwe tribes.”

The day highlights the complexity and history of Native Americans across the country, Vigue said.

“People think of us in the way movies portray us, or forget that we’re people, or think of us as objects …