Today is...

[IceWizard]

Tuesday 1 Nov 2016



World Vegan Day



Vegan Day first occurred on November 1st, 1994 as a way of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the UK Vegan Society and indeed the term “Vegan”.

The Vegan Society was established in November of 1944; although the exact date was unknown. The President of the Vegan Society decided to elect the date of the 1st of November.

This is now recognised as the date on which the Vegan Society was founded and on which Vegan Day would be observed.

Along with celebrating the start of the Vegan Society, Vegan Day is an opportunity to promote the benefits of a vegan diet and veganism in general.

The term Vegan was coined by Donald Watson and derived from the word Vegetarian.

At that time, the differentiation was that Vegans did not consume dairy products. Later this extended to eggs, and by 1951, veganism had become a movement of people who did not partake in the exploitation of animals.

Each year there are a number of festivals and exhibitions held around the world by vegan societies.

In addition, there are many local events, talks and cooking demonstrations organised by individuals.



And



Native American Heritage Month



In countries all over the world, new people have travelled from their points of origin the inhabit land that previously belonged to others.

While we call the Americas the “New World”, the culture and history of that country was anything but new when it was first discovered by Europeans.

The relations between their new neighbors (who quickly made themselves unwelcome) were tenuous and then tumultuous, until the culture of the country’s first inhabitants were nearly forgotten.

Native American Heritage Month honors those who remain and serves as a reminder that the culture is far from dead, it’s still alive and breathing in the descendants of the First Americans.

History of Native American Heritage Month

The history of Native American Heritage Month goes back a surprisingly long time, even without considering the hundreds of years that Europeans have imposed themselves on the New World.

The first inklings that such a day may come to pass occurred back in 1915 when Red Fox James, a Native American of the Blackfoot nation, took it upon himself to ride a horse from state to state seeking approval from 24 separate state governments for a day to honor the “American Indian”.

In December of that year he presented it to the White House, apparently to no positive effect.

It was George H. W. Bush who officially took the steps to push forward a joint resolution that made November of 1990 the first official Native American Heritage Month.

Multiple proclamations have been made since each year following 1994. Since then cultural sites, museums, and native tribal councils have organized events showcasing their rich and diverse culture and history so that it might be spread to the young and continue to thrive.