OCTOBER 10, 2022

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY IN THE UNITED STATES PROCLAIMED

On October 7, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., proclaimed that Indigenous Peoples’ Day would be celebrated in the U.S. that October 10^th. Generally observed the 2^ND Monday of October in the U.S., it celebrates the survival and experiences of Native peoples. The day also notes the colonial & violent history of Columbus’s presence in the U.S., the deaths of millions of Native people, and the forced assimilation of survivors. The impetus for moving from celebrating Columbus Day to one honoring America’s Indigenous peoples began in 1977 at the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations. In 1992, the city council of Berkeley, California, declared October 12 as a “Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People” and 1992 as the “Year of Indigenous People.” The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day as “Indigenous Peoples Day.” More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia now officially recognize the day.

Sources:
“A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2022,” The White House.  Retrieved 12/4/2023, A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2022 | The White House
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” YWCA Metropolitan Chicago.  Retrieved 11/28/2023, Indigenous Peoples’ Day — YWCA Metropolitan Chicago | Dignity For All (ywcachicago.org)
Photo: Quinn Dombrowski, 10/13/2022.  Permissive use.