National Today Monday October 9 * Indigenous Peoples' Day *

Indigenous Peoples' Day
Native American people are honored and celebrated on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.










Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October, on October 9 this year, to honor the cultures and histories of the Native American people. The day is centered around reflecting on their tribal roots and the tragic stories that hurt but strengthened their communities.

History of Indigenous Peoples' Day

The first seed of Indigenous Peoples’ Day was planted at a U.N. international conference on discrimination in 1977. The first state to recognize the day was South Dakota in 1989. Berkeley, California, and Santa Cruz followed suit.
Although the day was still considered Columbus Day up to 1937, many people began calling it Indigenous Peoples’ Day to celebrate the rich culture and the lives of the Native American people.
For the Native Americans, Columbus Day was always hurtful as it glorified the violent past constituting 500 years of colonial torture and oppression by European explorers like Columbus and those who settled in America. Indigenous Peoples’ Day draws attention to the pain, trauma, and broken promises that were erased by the celebration of Columbus Day. Before his arrival, the indigenous folk were successful self-sufficient communities that sustained life for thousands of years.
Year by year, the movement to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day spreads to more and more states, towns, and cities across the United States of America.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrates, recognizes, and honors the beautiful traditions and cultures of the Indigenous People, not just in America, but around the world. Their way of life and culture carries wisdom and valuable insights into how we can live life more sustainably.
Today, 14 U.S. states celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and not Columbus Day, as well as the District of Columbia. More than 130 cities including Arlington, Amherst, Cambridge, Brookline, Marblehead, Great Barrington, Northampton, Provincetown, Somerville, and Salem also celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Many organizations are seeking to address the lack of access indigenous people have to higher education and have created scholarships to help address this.

How to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day

[list="holiday-list holiday-list-celebrate"][*]

Read indigenous literature

Some must-read books include “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” by Bartolomé de las Casas, “1491: New Revelations Of The Americas Before Columbus” by Charles C. Mann, “An Indigenous People's History Of The United States” by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown.
[*]

Attend an event

Attend an event hosted by a group of Native Americans or a Native American organization. Learn more about how you can be of assistance with any issues that the group is facing.
[*]

Host a movie screening

Watch a movie with your friends and have a discussion afterward. There are a plethora of films to choose from like “Dances with Wolves” (1990), “Songs My Brothers Taught Me” (2015), “Gather” (2020), and “Indian Horse” (2017).
[/list]

5 Facts About Indigenous Peoples’ Day

[list=holiday-listicle__list][*]

Female warriors

Native American women fought alongside men in battles, the most popular among them being the Buffalo Calf Road Woman of the Northern Cheyenne tribe.
[*]

Popcorn

The Indigenous Americans were the first to domesticate the strains of maize that produced popcorn thousands of years ago.
[*]

Maria Tallchief

The first Native American (and American) to dance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and with the Paris Opera Ballet was Maria Tallchief.
[*]

Hockey

The Native American tribes of Foxes, Saux, and Assiniboine played a game called shinny, which is where hockey came from.
[*]

The sequoia tree

The sequoia tree is named after the revered Cherokee leader Sequoyah, who created an alphabet for his people.
[/list]

Why Indigenous Peoples’ Day Is Important

[list="holiday-list holiday-list-loveit"][*]

It celebrates the original inhabitants

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday that celebrates the Native Americans, the original inhabitants of North America.
[*]

It recognizes the indigenous cultures

Indigenous Peoples’ Day honors the beautiful indigenous traditions, cultures, and lives all around the world.
[*]

It stands in solidarity with the indigenous people

We take a stand for and support the indigenous people on this day. We should also offer our support to those who invest and uplift the indigenous communities.
[/list]