Indigenous Peoples Day

Indigenous Peoples Day, also known as Native American Day, began as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day in Berkeley, California. The goal is to commemorate Native American history and promote Native American cultures. It is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

Resources

• All My Relations podcast. This podcast, hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish & Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) explores relationships to land, our creatural relatives and to one another. Each episode invites guests to delve into a different topic facing Native peoples today. They keep it real, play games, laugh, and cry.
• Reconsider Columbus Day - Amanda Morris, SPLC Learning for Justice. 
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People - Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese. This book spans centuries of resistance by the more than 500 federally recognized nations in the U.S. Even though the authors cover vast numbers of people and a long period of time, this account of the country’s evolution remains gripping, tightly written and packed with facts traditional textbooks and historical accounts neglect to cover. In place of the standard “hero tales” of explorers, soldiers, politicians and others is a well-researched, frank, often heartbreaking narrative of industrious, developed civilizations decimated by greed and ambition, justified by so-called “divine decree.” Dunbar-Ortiz explains that contrary to popular belief, the Native people of the continent lived in communities, built roads, developed systems of government and benefited from complex interrelationships.