Cook County joins the rest of Minnesota in celebrating and honoring Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 14
Oct 14, 2024 08:39AM ● By Content Editor
Photo: Manny Becerra on Unsplash.com
By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - October 14, 2024
Minnesota is officially celebrating its second Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 14. In 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed a bill designating the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples' Day, replacing Columbus Day. Minnesota joined several other states in marking the day as a state holiday.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said in a 2023 release, “This has been years in the making, and I’m thrilled to celebrate the first Indigenous Peoples' Day in Minnesota as a state holiday. Native people are still here, and we’ve always been here. Honoring and marking that is an important step in the work to make sure our history continues to be told for our children and our children’s children. Thank you to the advocates and legislators who have been working to make this day a reality for many years. We have so much to celebrate.”
According to the Minnesota Indians Affair Council, the day reminds people to take time to remember, commemorate, and educate about Indigenous culture's contributions to Minnesota. While some entities close for the day, such as some local government offices, banks, and the postal service, schools are to remain open and devote at least one hour of their day to discussing Native issues in Minnesota. Topics can include treaty histories, language, sovereignty, and/or current issues. School districts can also devote time to educating teachers and staff on the same topics.
Nationally, President Joe Biden was the first to recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2021. In a campaign started by then-19-year-old Dylan Baca from Arizona, Biden exclaimed that the day "honors Native Americans, their “resilience and strength” and determination to preserve “land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition," even as they have faced a “centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror,” he said." However, the federal government still recognizes Columbus Day as a holiday. Biden said that Columbus Day "invited reflection on “America’s spirit of exploration” and “the courage and contributions of Italian Americans throughout the generations” who have risked “poverty, starvation, and death in pursuit of a better life.” According to NPR, "The day was first founded as a way to appreciate the mistreatment of Italian Americans, and Congress eventually made it a federal holiday in 1934."
Locally, Cook County has recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day as the second Monday in October since 2020. In an effort led by three Cook County high school students, Cook County became the first county in the country to proclaim the day. The proclamation states that "people are encouraged to remember and celebrate the many indigenous people who have traditionally lived and currently live in the United States and its territories." Myron Bursheim, who was Cook County Board Chair at the time, said "It is important for us to collectively acknowledge that Cook County is located on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary land of Indigenous people from time immemorial.”
Several resources are available to learn more about Indigenous culture in Cook County and beyond:
By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - October 14, 2024
Minnesota is officially celebrating its second Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 14. In 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed a bill designating the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples' Day, replacing Columbus Day. Minnesota joined several other states in marking the day as a state holiday.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said in a 2023 release, “This has been years in the making, and I’m thrilled to celebrate the first Indigenous Peoples' Day in Minnesota as a state holiday. Native people are still here, and we’ve always been here. Honoring and marking that is an important step in the work to make sure our history continues to be told for our children and our children’s children. Thank you to the advocates and legislators who have been working to make this day a reality for many years. We have so much to celebrate.”
According to the Minnesota Indians Affair Council, the day reminds people to take time to remember, commemorate, and educate about Indigenous culture's contributions to Minnesota. While some entities close for the day, such as some local government offices, banks, and the postal service, schools are to remain open and devote at least one hour of their day to discussing Native issues in Minnesota. Topics can include treaty histories, language, sovereignty, and/or current issues. School districts can also devote time to educating teachers and staff on the same topics.
Nationally, President Joe Biden was the first to recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2021. In a campaign started by then-19-year-old Dylan Baca from Arizona, Biden exclaimed that the day "honors Native Americans, their “resilience and strength” and determination to preserve “land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition," even as they have faced a “centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror,” he said." However, the federal government still recognizes Columbus Day as a holiday. Biden said that Columbus Day "invited reflection on “America’s spirit of exploration” and “the courage and contributions of Italian Americans throughout the generations” who have risked “poverty, starvation, and death in pursuit of a better life.” According to NPR, "The day was first founded as a way to appreciate the mistreatment of Italian Americans, and Congress eventually made it a federal holiday in 1934."
Locally, Cook County has recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day as the second Monday in October since 2020. In an effort led by three Cook County high school students, Cook County became the first county in the country to proclaim the day. The proclamation states that "people are encouraged to remember and celebrate the many indigenous people who have traditionally lived and currently live in the United States and its territories." Myron Bursheim, who was Cook County Board Chair at the time, said "It is important for us to collectively acknowledge that Cook County is located on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary land of Indigenous people from time immemorial.”
Several resources are available to learn more about Indigenous culture in Cook County and beyond:
- The website ojibwe.net aims to keep the Anishinaabemowin language alive and present.
- Drury Lane Books has several options from local Native and non-Native authors. Here is a short video with some suggestions.
- Grand Portage State Park and Grand Portage National Monument are open, and there is a special event with Indigenous author and illustrator Carl Gawboy on October 14.
