IU’s First Nations Educational and Cultural Center (FNECC) held an open house Monday for American Indian, indigenous students, and allies to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Kevin Czachura, a graduate assistant at the center, says recognition of this day is vital to universities around the country and to the State of Indiana.
“1992 was the first time a city in the U.S. recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day. So, it's been a long time coming,” said Czachura. “Just having Indiana University follow these other universities is important…The fact that the name Indiana literally means land of the Indians. It's important for the university to recognize that and recognize the people whose land we're sitting on today.”
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Historically known as Columbus Day, a national holiday in many counties, the day celebrated the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first recognized as a holiday in the U.S. by President Joe Biden on Oct. 8, 2021. The day aims to celebrate Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures.
The Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs will host an "Indigenous Peoples’ Day Proclamation" program at 6 p.m. Monday at Sample Gates. Vice President James Wimbush and Provost Rahul Shrivastav will make the University’s official recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day, rather than Columbus Day.
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Ingrid Arreola, master’s student in data science, called the holiday the first step in acknowledging the mass genocide and attempted elimination of indigenous people in the country.
“That history is really important thing to recognize just because there's a lot of terrible things that happened to indigenous people,” Arreola continued. “There was mass genocide and if you just try and call it Columbus Day or fail to recognize it, then you fail to recognize a lot of the history that happened.”
