Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
What you need to know when talking to your Girl Scouts.
Co-authored by Leslie Anselme and Morgan Alley.
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month! At Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, we try our best to champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice in everything we do. We encourage every Girl Scout to celebrate with us and earn their Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander “I’m A Girl Scout!” Fun Patch.
What is AANHPI Month?
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the historical and cultural contributions of people and groups of AANHPI descent in the United States.
Originally Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, AANHPI Heritage Month was expanded from the first week of May to the entire month in 1990.
Who is included in AANHPI?
“Asian” refers to cultures from the entire Asian continent including:
- East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, etc.
- Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, etc.
- South Asia India, Pakistan, Nepal, etc.
“Native Hawaiian” refers to indigenous Polynesian people.
“Pacific Islanders” are broken into three groups:
- Melanesia: The Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, etc.
- Micronesia: The Marshall Islands, Palau, Marcus Island, etc.
- Polynesia: Tonga, Samoa, Easter Island, etc.
Are there any famous AANHPI Girl Scout alums?
- Tammy Duckworth, US Senator for Illinois, Iraq War Veteran, and Purple Heart recipient.
- Michelle Kwan, former professional figure skater, two-time Olympic medalist. and five-time World Champion. She currently serves as the United States Ambassador to Belize.
- Amy Tan, author best known for her novel, The Joy Luck Club.
- Patsy Mink. the first woman of color elected to the US House of Representatives and the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress
- Chloe Auli'l Cravalho, an actor and singer who voiced the title character in Disney's Moana.
- Kalpana Chawla, an astronaut and the first South Asian American woman in space.
How many AANHPI people are there in the United States?
According to the 2020 US Census, there are about 20.6 million people of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander descent in the United States, making up more than six percent of the population.
Chinese Americans make up the largest group of Asian origin in the US, accounting for 24% of the AANHPI population. The next largest are Indian Americans and Filipino Americans.
One region, so many languages.
Did you know there are around 2300 languages spoken in this region? Challenge yourself to learn to say "hello" in a few of them!
- Arabic
- Burmese
- Chinese
- English
- Hawaiian
- Hindi
- Hmong
- Indonesian
- Japanese
- Khmer
- Laotian
- Maori
- Persian
- Punjabi
- Samoan
- Tagalog
- Tahitian
- Tamil
- Thai
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
