Indigenous Peoples Day – Monday, October 12, 2020. From the OSU Newark Earthworks Center

Computer projection of the lunar standstill at the Octagon State Memorial, Newark Earthworks.
Image created by CERHAS, University of Cincinnati.

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

WHAT IS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY AND WHO CELEBRATES IT? 

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October in the United States, in lieu of Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, at its core, aims to celebrate and honor the past, present, and futures of Native peoples throughout the United States and acknowledges the legacy of colonialism, which has devastated Indigenous communities historically and continues to negatively impact them today. More importantly, however, Indigenous Peoples’ Day moves beyond the narrative of oppression and honors the histories, cultures, contributions, and resilience of contemporary Native peoples. 

WHY IS CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY IMPORTANT 

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day in lieu of Columbus Day has three obvious benefits: 

1. It promotes the visibility of Natives peoples and counters the narrative that we are a vanishing race or curiosities from the past. Native peoples are here! 
2. Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day connects diverse Indigenous peoples in the United States together in a common celebration of their Native heritages. 
3. It connects Indigenous peoples in the U.S. to other Native peoples around the world. 

 Indigenous Peoples’ Day de-mythologizes the arrival of Columbus and Europeans to the Western Hemisphere and rightly celebrates the first peoples of these lands. 

-IllumiNative. For Our Future-An Advocate's Guide to Supporting Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2019.

October 12, 2020 Indigenous Peoples' Day: A Conversation

 with Dr. Melissa Beard Jacob and Dr. Daniel Rivers 12-12:30

Zoom Registration required; This event is free and open to the public.

YouTube Recording Link.

If you require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate in this webinar, please contact Clara Davison at davison.102@osu.edu or 614-688-1214. Requests made two weeks before an event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet all requests.

Unable to join the event live? No worries, register anyway. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar and additional resources following the event.