Numbers in the News: Native American Heritage Month

This November, celebrate some Indigenous scientists and engineers.

1930

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ARCHIVES

The year archaeologist Bertha Parker (Abenaki/Seneca Nation) found the earliest evidence of humans in North America.

NASA/GETTY IMAGES

13 DAYS, 18 HOURS, 47 MINUTES

The amount of time John Herrington (Chicksaw Nation)—the first Native American astronaut—spent in space.

1889

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

The year Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte (Omaha Nation) became one of the first Native Americans to earn a medical degree.

100

T. DAVID PETITE

The number of patents, mostly for wireless technology, held by engineer Thomas David Petite (Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa).

THINK ABOUT IT: Research one of the people above, or another Indigenous changemaker of your choosing, to learn more about their life and work.

SOURCES: SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, NASA, U.S. INVENTOR

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