Acknowledging Indigenous People’s Day
Photo Credit, David McNew: An Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America school for indigenous students student holds incense during an event celebrating Indigenous People's Day in Los Angeles
We feel privileged to be a part of a community that is committed to dismantling the systems, beliefs, and behaviors that have cut us off from each other and made us lost and blind to the fact that first, and foremost, we are all elevated by the quality of our relationships and our responsibilities to each other.
It is precisely our diversity - in all of its forms - which is our natural genius. We believe that we have been conditioned by mechanistic and colonized thinking away from our original human gifts and care for each other.
It is from this perspective that we care to acknowledge and amplify the growing movement to shift from Columbus Day to Indigenous Day. Indigenous People's Day centers Indigenous nations across the Americas. First proposed in 1977 by Indigenous leaders and activists, the purpose is to shift our cultural myth-making from a “discovering America” narrative to acknowledging the colonization of original peoples and the destruction and forced removal they experienced from their original lands.
The “discovery” myth-making narrative serves the embedding of white supremacy and colonized thinking (it’s a part of what conditions us into the white power system) and deflects us from the truth of our historic and ongoing genocide and oppression of Indigenous peoples in the Americas and around the world. Changing the narrative to celebrate Indigenous cultures and resistance to colonization is a useful step.
Dozens of cities and states across the United States have made the switch from Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day -- with South Dakota one of the first. “Every day is Indigenous People's Day. That’s how we look at it,” Shannon O’Loughlin, Executive Director for the Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA), tells Oprah Daily. “Every day we are fighting to protect sovereignty and preserve culture.”
Until we recognize and honor all people -- the humanity which connects us all -- we won't experience our collective wisdom, nor the genius of our diversity.
Find out here if your state or city celebrates Indigenous People's Day. Read this comprehensive article by Oprah Daily: "What You Need to Know About Indigenous Peoples' Day." Learn how you can support our partner, Reconciliation Canada.