~ The Second Monday in October ~
Columbus Day is becoming the day it should always have been Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In announcing Washington D. C.s change to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Councilman David Gross said
“Columbus enslaved, colonized, mutilated, and massacred thousands of Indigenous People in the Americas. We cannot continue to allow this history [Columbus’s arrival in the Americas] to be celebrated as a holiday in the District of Columbia. The government of the District of Columbia is clear that we are a government that values equality, diversity, and inclusion. Continuing to observe a holiday built on the celebration of oppression runs counter to those values.”
While some people feel that Columbus Day should not be totally eliminated, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), strongly supported the DC Council’s decision.
NCAI Chief Executive Kevin Allis said, “It also acknowledges American Indians and Alaska Natives as thriving, contemporary sovereign nations who hold their rightful place among the American family of governments.”
Activities for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and any other day
Here are numerous resources to use in your classrooms and at home with your own children. The important thing is to not refer to them only on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but to weave them into your lives to honor the people who came before us, and who struggle to preserve the world today.
Learn more about Indigenous Peoples.
PBS resources for Indigenous Peoples’ Month
The Museum of International Cultures
Pre-Columbian Accomplishments of Indigenous People in the Americas
Discuss Indigenous Peoples’ Issues
Native American Stereotypes Exposed
Unlearning Native American Stereotypes
Renaming the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
Howard Zinn The Columbus Controversy
Read These Great Books
Encounter by Jane Yolan
When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492, what he discovered were the Taino Indians. Told from a young Taino boy’s point of view, this is a story of how the boy tried to warn his people against welcoming the strangers, who seemed more interested in golden ornaments than friendship. Years later the boy, now an old man, looks back at the destruction of his people and their culture by the colonizers. Upper Elementary
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris
A tale based on an entry in the diary of Christopher Columbus that tells of a native family living in a vibrant community striving to coexist with the natural world before the arrival of Columbus and his men. Lower & Upper Elementary
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar Cortez
400 years of indigenous peoples history. Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. Middle & High School
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years.
Joseph Bruchac brings the stories of the Navajo code talkers to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker. His grueling journey is eye-opening and inspiring. This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians. Upper Elementary & Middle Grade
