On Indigenous Peoples' Day, which honours and recalls Native American peoples' history and cultures, Native American peoples are acknowledged and celebrated in the United States. US President Joe Biden became the first US President to formally honour the occasion on October 8 by signing a presidential proclamation declaring October 11 as a national holiday.
It is observed across the country on the second Monday in October, and in certain places it is a recognized city or state holiday. The event began as a protest against Columbus Day, a national holiday in the US that honours the explorer who was born in Genoa. Some, who oppose commemorating him, claim that he stands for "the awful history of colonialism in the Western Hemisphere.
Hemisphere". Indigenous People's Day was instituted in 1992 in Berkeley, California, to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Two years later, Santa Cruz, California, adopted the holiday. Beginning in 2014, the festival was observed in numerous other towns and states.
2022's Indigenous Peoples' Day will be observed on Monday, October 10.
What is indigenous peoples day
On Indigenous Peoples' Day, which honours and recalls Native American peoples' history and cultures, Native American peoples are acknowledged and celebrated in the United States.
History of indigenous peoples day
Indigenous Peoples' Day was first proposed as a replacement for Columbus Day in the Americas in 1977 during the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, which was organized by the United Nations. Similar to this, Native American groups boycotted Thanksgiving in Boston, which is celebrated there to remember early collaboration between Massachusetts colonists and Native Americans. At the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, in July 1990, representatives of indigenous people from all over the Americas came to an agreement to use the year 1992, the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's first voyage, to advance "continental unity" and "liberation.
Following the conference on October 12, 1992, participants from Northern California organised protests against the "Quincentennial Jubilee" that the US Congress had planned for the San Francisco Bay Area[citation needed]. The Golden Gate Bridge would be traversed by replicas of Columbus' ships as they acted out the "discovery" of America. The "Resistance 500" task committee and the Bay Area Indian Alliance were constituted by the delegates. It promoted the idea that Columbus' "discovery" of inhabited regions and the subsequent colonization of them by Europeans resulted in the genocide of thousands of indigenous peoples as a result of the decisions taken by colonial and national governments.
The campaign was successful in getting 1992 proclaimed as the "Year of Indigenous People" and October 12 as the "Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People" by Berkeley, California's city council. The city has started programs in schools, libraries, and museums. The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day" beginning in 1992 to denounce the historical conquest of North America by Europeans and to call attention to the losses suffered by the Native American peoples and their cultures due to diseases, war, massacres, and forced assimilation. A Native American composer named White Cloud Wolfhawk premiered his opera Get Lost (Again) Columbus on that day. Since then, Berkeley has celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day. Since 1993, Berkeley has also been the site of an annual pow wow and festival.
In the years since Berkeley's initiative, other regional authorities and organisations have either changed the name of Columbus Day or abolished it, either to honour Native American history and cultures, to avoid remembering Columbus and the European colonisation of the Americas, or because there has been more discussion about Columbus' legacy. Several additional Californian cities, such as Richmond, Santa Cruz, and Sebastopol, currently commemorate Indigenous Peoples' Day. These towns also promote charitable giving to adjacent tribes and promote recognition of the pain and trauma inflicted on indigenous people by invaders.
The twelve states plus Washington, DC that don't celebrate Columbus Day are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin; South Dakota celebrates Native American Day instead. To honour their individual tribes, numerous tribal governments in Oklahoma called the day "Native American Day." The California state assembly discussed AB55, a bill that would have officially replaced Columbus Day with Native American Day, however it was not approved. Despite the fact that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cancelled the holiday during the 2008–12 California budget crisis, the California governor has recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day. The major proponent of this bill, which requires congressional approval to become law, was Councilman David Grosso (I-At Large).
The Los Angeles City Council voted in support of changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day on August 30, 2017, following earlier that month's decisions in Oberlin, Ohio, and Bangor, Maine. Only a few days before Columbus Day was planned to be celebrated in Washington, D.C., the D.C. Council agreed on October 10, 2019, to temporarily replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. The principal proponent of this legislation, which needs congressional approval to become law, was Councilman David Grosso (I-At Large).
How to Celebrate indigenous people's day
Native Americans are now widely honoured in North America, either as a standalone festival or as a component of Columbus Day. Numerous anti-Columbus Day demonstrations have taken place, especially in light of the surge in Native American activism since the 1960s and 1970s. These have included protests against and interruptions of American Columbus Day parades, as well as fake trials for Christopher Columbus in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Other indigenous groups have pushed for the establishment of holidays to recognize their achievements and heritage. On April 19 in South America, for instance, Brazil celebrates "National Indigenous Peoples' Day."
President Tsai Ing-wen inspired Taiwan to declare August 1 as Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2016. She also stated that Taiwan's government is dedicated to strengthening indigenous peoples' rights and educating the public about their culture and history. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and many local indigenous tribes created Indigenous Peoples' Day in the Philippines on October 29, 1987.
Conclusion
We hope that these informative posts have helped you to understand the meaning and importance of indigenous peoples' day.
The celebration is a significant opportunity for all nations to honour the wisdom, resilience and unique qualities of communities living in traditional ways across the world today. It gives us space to reflect on what we can do better and commit ourselves towards their protection.
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