Indigenous People's Day
The idea of replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day was born in 1977, at a U.N.-sponsored conference on discrimination against indigenous populations in the Americas in Geneva, Switzerland. Fourteen years later, activists in Berkeley, CA, convinced the Berkeley City Council to declare October 12 a "Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People." Henceforth, there has been a growing movement to appropriate "Columbus Day" as "Indigenous People's Day," changing a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal historical truths about the genocide and oppression of indigenous peoples in the Americas, to organize against current injustices, and to celebrate Indigenous resistance.
Action
Check out Protect Sacred Sites for the latest actions on protecting sacred sites.
Host a letter-writing table, visit your representatives, write a letter to the editor; get tips on all of these actions and more in the leaders library. More specific actions to come as the date approaches...
Resources
Beacon Broadside Blog: Indigenous Peoples Day by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office: Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A shared history of global injustice and the UN efforts
AIROS Native Network: Internet Radio produced by American Indians. Including Podcasts!
American Indian Heritage Foundation
Unitarian Universalist Association Grounding
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has passed several resolutions on Native American/Indigenous Peoples' rights since the 1970's. In 1993, the General Assembly passed a resolution on Justice for Indigenous Peoples, where the UUA resolved to learn from indigenous peoples about the richness of their cultures and about the problems and issues they face, support local indigenous peoples' political action committees in their struggles for social justice and religious freedom, and act individually and through coalitions to respect and support indigenous peoples in preserving their cultural pride and heritage and in protecting their natural resources. To more fully recognize this event, The Unitarian Universalist Staff and Headquarters now recognizes Indigenous People's Day as an official holiday in place of Columbus Day—as suggested in the article by George Tinker in the book Soul Work (Beacon Press, 2001).
Last updated on Thursday, June 19, 2008.
