Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrates and honors Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. It is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October and is an official city and state holiday in various localities.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, since Native peoples are not represented in American society, many have little to no familiarity of Native peoples and their communities. “Pop culture, media and K-12 education,” as noted by Illuminative, “have institutionalized the erasure of Native peoples to the point that 78% of Americans admit they know little to nothing about Native Americans. A significant number are also not sure Native Americans still exist.”
In History books, as noted by Illuminative, what is told of Native peoples and their communities does not accurately portray the maltreatment they have experienced. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to correct this erasure.
Join the Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Student Activities and the Owens Library in celebrating this day.
Join us as we have Mary Jane Bryant and Jake Skaggs discuss their culture and histories in College Hall 100 from 1-3 p.m. For the livestream link, see the website.
