Resource Roundup: Latine Heratige Month and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

We’re currently right in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month- aka, Latine Heritage Month! Hispanic/ Latine Heritage Month is unique in that it isn’t represented by a calendar month, but begins and ends mid-month- Sept. 15th to Oct. 15th. This timing is in recognition of the day that several countries in Latin America claimed their independence from Spain.

I’ve shared a few articles and resources below to help you learn about and celebrate Latine culture and history (including why I choose to use the term Latine), whether you want to enjoy art and literature, support organizing efforts led by the community, or just learn something new.

For those of you in the evaluation field, make sure to follow along with the Latinx Responsive Evaluation Discourse, or LaRed, a Topical Interest Group of the American Evaluation Association dedicated to represent Latinx evaluators and support evaluators working with the Latinx community.

And for those of you attending the AEA conference this year make sure to check out our presentations, posters, and events, including the panel I’ll be speaking on “What Does it Mean to Include Latino/a/e/x voice in Evaluation?”

Yesterday (Oct. 5) also happened to be Latina Equal Pay Day, representing the fact that Latina women working full-time, year-round are paid only 57 cents and all earners- including part-time and seasonal- are paid 52 cents for every dollar paid to non-Hispanic white men. If you want to make a small gesture, this is a great time support a Latina or nonbinary Latine-owned business.

Image of the painting "Rosita" by Robert Valdez depicting La Adelita in a composition reflecting the Rosie the Riveter poster.

This coming Monday (Oct. 9) is Indigenous People’s Day (I have a blog post that shares reflections, recommendations, and resources for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which you can find here).

This year, the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference is taking place in Indianapolis, IN. Indiana in fact means “Land of the Indians” and like many places is the original home to a number of tribes, including myaamiaki/ Miami, Lënape/ Delaware, Bodwéwadmik/ Potawatomi, peeyankihšiaki/ Piankeshaw, waayaahtanwa/ Wea, kiikaapoa/ Kickapoo, and saawanwa/ Shawnee. Despite the honorary name, Indiana is named after the Indiana Land Company, which held land stolen from Indigenous peoples. As with indigenous people throughout North America, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Indiana suffered violence, forced removal, and theft.

In gratitude and recognition ahead of our visit, AS Community Consulting has made a donation to The American Indian Center of Indiana, an organization supporting Indigenous peoples in Indiana.

And btw, Native Women’s Equal Pay Day is not until Nov. 30. Indigenous women working full-time, year-round are paid 59 cents, and all earners, including part-time and seasonal, are paid 55 cents for every dollar paid to non-Hispanic white men.

Photo of what was once the home of Hernan Cortez, now a ruin. The picture shows tree roots incorporated into the structure, framing a doorway.

One of the challenges of cultural heritage months and days is their frequent disregard of intersectionality. That won’t slide on my blog, so I’ll close with this. The histories of Latin America, and of Latine communities around the world, are deeply intertwined with colonization and Indigenous rights, even today. Some of the resources below share more about this.

As always, keep supporting local businesses, listening to community-led organizing, and finding ways to keep learning after a cultural heritage “month” or “day” is over.