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Celebrating Chaldean-American Month

The Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs is also thrilled to be celebrating Chaldean-American Month this April.

CMEAA joins Governor Whitmer, who proclaimed April as Chaldean-American month for the first time in Michigan's history. Governor Whitmer said in her Proclamation, "The Chaldean/Assyrian/Syriac people are a community of rich tradition and culture who enrich Michigan's cultural tapestry and prosperity through their success in the arts, business, law, politics, education, medicine, architecture, and engineering." Michigan has the highest concentration of Chaldeans/Assyrians/Syriacs living in the United States.

Chaldeans/Assyrians are Semitic peoples who also identify themselves as Syriacs; they are the indigenous peoples of Mesopotamia who have lived in the Middle East since ancient times, including in what is today Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran.

We Celebrate Chaldean-American Month in April to commemorate the Assyrian/Babylonian New Year, Akitu, a celebration of spring, rebirth, and renewal which often culminates in a celebration on April 1. Also, April 24 marks the anniversary of Seyfo or the Genocide that claimed the lives of a million Chaldeans/Assyrians/Syriacs, Armenians, and Greeks. And Lastly, the Chaldean Catholic Church, a descendant of the Church of the East, commemorates All Martyrs & Confessors Day in April, remembering the Church's devoted priests, nuns, and laypeople.