Indigenous Peoples Day

Boston Demands Indigenous Peoples Day!

October 10, 2023 Will Hodgkinson, Workers' World. Resist! Boston, Indigenous Peoples Day, Massachusetts, State legislature

On Oct. 7, over 200 Indigenous activists and their allies gathered on Boston Common to demand that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts abolish Columbus Day and immediately designate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day. This action continued the Indigenous-led movement to end the racist cult glorifying Christopher Columbus, a Genoese mercenary backed by Spanish monarchs and mercantile investors. He commanded the 1492 voyage to the Caribbean that initiated the transatlantic slave trade and began the ongoing settler-colonial genocide of Indigenous peoples.

Thoughts On Cultural Appropriation

October 10, 2023 Eliza Daley, Resilience. Educate! colonization, Community, Cultural Appropriation, Indigenous Peoples Day

One conclusion that I can draw from this all this is that my goal of building a strong, localized, place-based community is not just economically intelligent, nor even an ecological necessity — it is the only path to a just system that will not allow for rubbishy things like holidays for colonizers and cultural theft. Living local is a moral imperative. I know many people don’t like that word. Morals are quite passé because we moderns are loathe to admit that we live in community with others — whether we want to or not — and morals are the limits we impose on the self so that we do not harm our communities.

On Indigenous Peoples Day, Unity And Justice In The Wake Of A Hate Crime

October 9, 2023 NDN Collective, Popular Resistance. Educate! Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day, New Mexico, Violence

Albuquerque, NM – Marking Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous groups and supporters are calling for unity and justice for Jacob Johns, an Indigenous activist from Spokane, WA, who was shot and gravely wounded by a domestic terrorist at a peaceful prayer ceremony on September 28, 2023, in Española, New Mexico. “This is a hate crime,” said Johns’ attorney John Day. “It needs to be recognized and prosecuted as such. Jacob’s heroism in protecting the lives of innocent people, including children, is important in itself, but there’s an even larger principle at stake here: we cannot afford to minimize or normalize targeting lawful, peaceful assembly of people with violent crime because they belong to a different group.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act Reintroduced In Congress

October 4, 2023 Native News Online. Create! Columbus Day, Congress, Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Rights

The bicameral Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act to replace Columbus Day as a federal holiday and designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been reintroduced in Congress. The legislation was reintroduced by Representatives Sharice Davids (KS-03), Norma J. Torres (CA-35), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), and Suzan DelBene (WA-01), along with Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act has garnered 56 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. “Our country has long failed to recognize and acknowledge its dark history of erasure and harm brought upon the first inhabitants of the Americas,” Norma Torres (CA-35) said.

Boston March October 7 To Demand: Indigenous Peoples Day Now!

September 24, 2023 Boston Branch, Workers World. Organize! Boston, Faneuil Hall, Indigenous Peoples Day, State Legislatures

United American Indians of New England (UAINE), the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB) and other organizations have called for a march and rally on Oct. 7 to demand that the Massachusetts legislature forever replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. This decades-long struggle of Indigenous peoples in Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims carried out “first encounter” land thefts and genocide, aims to overturn centuries of entrenched racist mythology wrapped up in the triumphalist federal holiday known as Columbus Day. The 2017 murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the hands of fascists, and the police lynching of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, sparked a national wave of actions targeting racist icons, including Christopher Columbus.

Indigenous Trade Unionists Call For More Inclusion And Solidarity

August 18, 2023 José Álvarez Díaz, Equal Times. Educate! Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples Day, Labor Standards, Trade Unions

More than 476 million people worldwide (6.2 per cent of humanity) belong to Indigenous peoples, most of whom live alongside the societies that colonised their ancient lands hundreds of years ago. In the 21st century, after a long journey during which they were not always able to survive colonial oppression without losing their identity, language or part of their culture, Indigenous peoples have won significant gains in various regions of the world but they continue to face challenges such as discrimination and limited opportunities, making it very difficult for them to enjoy fair labour market integration.

Response To Biden’s Proclamation On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, 2022

October 14, 2022 Charmaine White Face, Popular Resistance. Educate! Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Sovereignty, Joe Biden

When reading your Proclamation regarding Indigenous Peoples, for a second there was a spark of hope that this time we might be free. Then we read on and cold water was poured on that spark of hope when you continued with words that refer only to the "Tribes" your government created in the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934. It was also called the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) and means the "tribal governments" that Act created without our consent. This is a major Human Rights violation. However, as an elder in the family of nations trying to teach your young nation, the United States (US), the essence of Human Rights, we are sending you this letter. Remember, your colonizing government is only a little over 200 years old. We have a civilization that is more than ten-thousand years old and know a few things about Human Rights.

Forterra Staff Defy Bosses, Show Support For The Snoqualmie Tribe

October 12, 2022 Last Real Indians. Resist! Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Rights, Washington State

We, the undersigned, are former staff members and leaders of Forterra who are writing to express our solidarity and support for the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, which has made public very serious allegations of misconduct by Forterra. It is clear from publicly available information that Forterra has, at minimum, behaved in an inappropriate, disrespectful, and misleading manner inconsistent with the organization’s stated value: We show respect for people, place, culture and each other. It appears that Forterra has mistreated a sovereign Tribal Nation on its own ancestral lands while claiming to act in its best interest. Beyond that, instead of approaching this embarrassing mistake with “accountability, humility and care”, it appears Forterra’s executive team has engaged in victim blaming, pointing to the Tribe’s “bad faith”.

Building An Indigenous Agenda To Decolonize The United States

October 10, 2022 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast American genocide, Decolonization, Indian Child Welfare Act, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day

Today is Indigenous People's Day, still celebrated by some as the violent colonizer Christopher Columbus Day. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jean-Luc Pierite of the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB) and United American Indians of New England (UAINE) about the growing recognition of the trauma and murder of American Indian children who were sent to assimilation centers called residential schools across the US and Canada and how that theft of children's cultural heritage and identity continues today through the foster care system. A major Supreme Court case that could destroy the Indian Child Welfare Act is set to be heard in November. Pierite also discusses the campaign in Massachusetts to recognize Indigenous People's Day statewide, the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda and the work being done in solidarity with indigenous peoples around the world and the Black Lives Matter movement to create a path to a better future.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Call To Higher Consciousness

October 10, 2022 Wakinyan LaPointe and Thorne LaPointe, Last Real Indians. Create! Capitalism, Earth, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples Day

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a call to higher consciousness, and it is one that is not solely defined by human beings but emerges from the original instructions of what the Lakota people also call wotakuye (relations with all life). Lakota children are taught that the earth is their grandmother, and that they are participants in her story. She gives us life, shelter, food, warmth, joy, and many other gifts. In contrast, the settler-colonial was taught that Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) was property and meant for exploitation and one’s capitalist ambitions. However, it is time for the settler colonial to divest from this concept, to listen to Indigenous voices, and invest in Unci Maka as a relative that deserves inherent respect, honor, and reverence.

Boston Marches For Statewide Indigenous People’s Day

October 9, 2022 Jean-Luc Pierite and Mahtowin Munro, Popular Resistance. Resist! American genocide, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day, Massachusetts

Indigenous people and their allies rallied and marched in Boston on Saturday, October 8, 2022 to observe Indigenous Peoples Day in Boston and demand that the MA state legislature vote to establish the day statewide which will replace Columbus Day. They called on the presumed next Governor, Maura Healey, to make it a priority to support this and other Indigenous-centered legislation (MAIndigenousAgenda.org). Furthermore, because Indigenous liberation is intertwined with Black liberation, they also call edfor Faneuil Hall, named after a slaver, to be renamed. Marchers celebrated the declaration of Indigenous Peoples Day in Boston and urged city, state and federal governments to take further steps to address Indigenous community concerns.

Empty Words And Colonialism, Or Treaty Rights And Self Determination?

October 14, 2021 Charmaine White Face, Red Abya Yala. Educate! Colonialism, Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Sovereignty, Joe Biden

On Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, United States President Joe Biden issued a first-ever Proclamation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The first two sentences state: “Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures – safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.” Right off the bat, that second sentence is an insult to our Nations. We never did call ourselves “tribes”. That is a moniker put on us by the United States in the first place. It was an easy way to NOT recognize us as the NATIONS we are. It was also easier to force us to live under THEIR form of government, a Tribal Council form of government.

Honor Indigenous Communities Leading The Way On Climate Justice

October 12, 2021 Jade Begay, In These Times. Create! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Indigenous Peoples Day, Indigenous Resistance

When Christopher Columbus landed on Turtle Island, which we now call North America, he brought with him a goal of making profit — of taking from the land and people to create commerce. Today, approximately 526 years later, that same pillaging continues to drive our planet further into the climate crisis and lead us into ecological collapse. Instead of honoring the violent colonization Columbus represents, we should use this day to call for truth and reconciliation — and honor the Indigenous communities at the forefront of efforts to heal the long-lasting environmental harm Columbus and his ilk have wrought. Settler colonialism has exacerbated climate change and made Indigenous communities sacrifice zones to this crisis. As we honor the truth of how this country was founded and continues to exploit Indigenous lands and territories, we must also recognize that climate change disproportionately impacts the Indigenous and Native peoples who are least responsible for this crisis.

Decolonization Or Extinction – Indigenous People’s Day 2021

October 10, 2021 Justin Teba, Red Nation. Resist! Capitalism, Decolonization, Indigenous Peoples Day, New Mexico

In 2015, The Red Nation and a coalition of Native and non-Native organizations led a successful campaign to rename the second Monday of October Indigenous Peoples’ Day (IPD) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Albuquerque City Council issued a proclamation abolishing Columbus Day that was signed by Rey Garduño, Ken Sanchez, Klarissa Peña, Isaac Benton, Brad Winter, and Diane Gibson, with three council members abstaining. The proclamation declared that the day “shall be used to reflect upon the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples on this land.” For the first time this year, the city and their nefarious initiative “One Albuquerque,” are hosting an alternative to our annual IPD march and rally, with Albuquerque’s Mayor Tim Keller as the keynote speaker.

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