Indigenous Peoples’ Day
By Yvette Neshi Lokotz
What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? According to officeholidays.com, Indigenous Peoples’ Day focuses on celebrating the heritage and contribution to the Americas of those who were here before Columbus. The U.S. already observes Native American Heritage Month in November as a federal recognition, so why is there a need for an additional day of observance? This is an excellent question and one that takes more thought.
The many events that took place after 1492 to the Indigenous People were horrible. To a large extent, those events were intended to take the land, control, and
At first glance, it would seem to having two observances is redundant. The Indigenous Peoples’ Day includes all tribal nations in the U.S., not just Native Americans Nations. Other tribal people reside in the U.S. as well—people who are immigrated to the U.S. from South America and Mexico. I believe the key intention for Indigenous Peoples’ Day is to celebrate and honor the contributions to the Americas of those who were already here and not “discovered” by Columbus. The point in time, prior to Columbus, is an essential mark as the invasion of another culture changed the lives of so many Indigenous People. There is evidence in most ancient oral stories across the Indigenous Nations that they were more matriarchal than patriarchal. The culture was female influenced rather than male influenced.
Star Nations Magazine • October 2020 • 4
In this issue of Star Nations Magazine, the contributing writers bring to you articles about Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Sukkot, Spirit of Water, and Wolf. remove the Indigenous People. The words used today to describe these actions are genocide and colonization. Note that even though the governments controlled the European explorers, their military and churches meant to remove the Indigenous People by any means necessary. The Indigenous ancestors survived so that Indigenous People are still here in the modern-day. We may not have the large population numbers we once had, but those ancient ones’ descendants are here. There are positive aspects, as well. The trait to survive and even thrive is embedded into the fabric of the American culture. One of the most famous and well-known contributions from Indigenous People to the U.S. is how the European men based much of the Constitution’s premises and government format from the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee’s influence on the early formation of the U.S. Constitution was based on peace, the separation of powers, freedom to assemble, freedom of
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From the Editor
