Indigenous Peoples’ Day is recognized in the United States to celebrate and honor Indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first proposed by Indigenous people at a 1977 United Nations conference to push back against discrimination and acknowledge that the Americas had been inhabited by more than 600 native nations for over a millennium. Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first implemented in Berkeley, California, in 1992 as a “Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People.” President Joe Biden became the first U.S. President to formally commemorate the holiday with a presidential proclamation in 2021. In the proclamation it states:
“The story of America’s Indigenous peoples is a story of their resilience and survival; of their persistent commitment to their right to self-governance; and of their determination to preserve cultures, identities, and ways of life. Long before European explorers sailed to this continent, Native American and Alaska Native Nations made this land their home, some for thousands of years before the United States was founded. They built many Nations that created powerful, prosperous, and diverse cultures, and they developed knowledge and practices that still benefit us today.”
The Importance of Being Seen
According to Mandy Van Heuvelen, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe from South Dakota, and the cultural interpreter coordinator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian:
“What these changes accomplish, piece by piece, is visibility for Native people in the United States,” she said. “Until Native people are or are fully seen in our society and in everyday life, we can’t accomplish bigger changes. As long as Native people remain invisible, it’s much easier for people to look past real issues and real concerns within those communities.”
Celebrating the Native Peoples of the Northwest
The Eastside Native American Education Program is a federally funded program that assists Native American, Alaskan Native and American Indian students in grades K-12 in the Lake Washington, Bellevue and Northshore School districts. Since the initiation of the Indian Education Act of 1972, the federal government has assisted local school districts in funding educational programs for all Native American, American Indian and Alaskan Native children. These programs are intended to provide children with programs that offer them the opportunity to succeed academically and enrich their cultural lives.
Friday, October 6, 2023, marked Snoqualmie Tribal Recognition Day. On this date, the Snoqualmie Tribe reclaimed their Federal Recognition in 1999. A federally recognized tribe is an American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entity that is recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States, with the responsibilities, powers, limitations and obligations attached to that designation, and is eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Snoqualmie Tribe is the state-assigned, Federally Recognized Tribal Partner of the Bellevue School District. Collaboration takes place between the Snoqualmie Tribe and the district on curriculum, such as the third-grade social studies unit on the Kokanee SIalmon, recognition events and more.
Take Part in Local Acknowledgements
There are many ways for individuals in our learning community to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
- Learn about Native and Indigenous perspectives. See resources below.
- Recognize the diversity of Native and Indigenous Peoples.
- Learn about historical and existing systemic inequalities.
- Join the Eastside Native American Education Program at their Indigenous People’s Day event on Monday, October 9, at Lake Washington High School. The event will take place from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and include student and community speakers, drumming and singing. The theme is “I want you to know about my tribe.”
The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.