Timeline of support for Indigenous Peoples' Day

This page is a timeline for when various municipalities, universities, and states in the United States have officially recognized Indigenous Peoples Day.

Timeline

1977

• the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, began to discuss replacing Columbus Day in the United States with a celebration to be known as Indigenous Peoples Day.^[1]

1990

• at the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, representatives of Indian groups throughout the Americas agreed that they would mark 1992, the 500th anniversary of the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, as a year to promote "continental unity" and "liberation." ^[2]

1992

• the city council of Berkeley, California, declared October 12 as a "Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People", and 1992 the "Year of Indigenous People". The city implemented related programs in schools, libraries, and museums. The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day as "Indigenous Peoples' Day" beginning in 1992^[3] to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans, and to call attention to the losses suffered by the Native American peoples and their cultures^[4] through diseases, warfare, massacres, and forced assimilation.

2014

April

• the city council of Minneapolis, Minnesota, officially voted to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day along with Columbus Day.^[5][6]

• Red Wing, Minnesota, replaced Columbus Day with Chief Red Wing Day to honor the city's namesake, Hupaha-duta, the Dakota leader known in English as "Red Wing".^[7]

October

• the city council of Seattle, Washington, officially renamed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[8]

• Bellingham, Washington passed an ordinance recognizing the second Monday of October as Coast Salish Day in honor of the indigenous peoples of the Salish Sea bioregion.^[9]

• Minnesota State University, Mankato began celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day in place of Columbus Day, following an official vote to establish this by the Minnesota State Student Association.

December

• the city council of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, passed a resolution recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[10]

2015

February

• the City Commission of Traverse City, Michigan, passed a resolution recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[11]

May

• the Town of Newstead and the Village of Akron, New York, and the Akron Central School District, voted to celebrate Indigenous People's Day on Columbus Day.^[12]

August

• the City Council of St. Paul, Minnesota, unanimously passed a resolution recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day in place of Columbus Day.^[13]

• the City of Olympia, Washington officially declared the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day to honor the area’s Native American heritage.^[14]

September

• The Town and Village of Lewiston, New York, declared the second Monday of October, Indigenous Peoples' Day, on September 28 and October 5, 2015, respectively.^[15]

• the Mayor of the City of Anadarko, Oklahoma signed the Indigenous Peoples’ Day proclamation, while surrounded by members and tribal leaders from the Apache, Choctaw, Delaware, Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, recognizing the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.^[16]

October

• the cities of Anchorage, Alaska; Portland, Oregon; Carrboro, North Carolina; and Albuquerque, New Mexico adopted similar resolutions.^{[17][18][19][20]}

• Governor Bill Walker of Alaska issued an executive proclamation renaming Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day."^[21]

• the City of San Fernando, California, passed a resolution recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[22] The City of San Fernando may be the first city in Los Angeles County to recognize this day.^[23]

December

• the City Council of Belfast, Maine approved the renaming of Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day.

2016

January

• the City Council of Durango, Colorado unanimously voted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day on the second Monday of October.^[24]

• the Mayor and City Council of Asheville, North Carolina voted unanimously to adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[25]

• the student body of the University of Utah voted unanimously to support the replacement of the annual "Columbus Day" holiday to "Indigenous Peoples' Day".

February

• the faculty of Brown University voted to designate the second Monday of October as "Indigenous Peoples' Day".

March

• Utah Senate Bill 170 failed to pass the senate with enough votes to adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day in the place of Columbus Day.

• the City Council of Eugene, Oregon voted unanimously to approve a resolution declaring the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.^[26]

• the Cornell University Student Assembly voted unanimously to approve a resolution recommending that the provost amend the university's academic calendar to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day.

June

• the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts voted unanimously (9-0) to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[27] The Massachusetts communities of Amherst and Northampton, by the time early October 2016 arrived, had joined Cambridge in similarly re-naming the early October date.^[28]

August

• the City of Boulder, Colorado voted unanimously (9-0) to establish Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[29]

September

• the City Council of Bainbridge Island, Washington unanimously approved a resolution declaring the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[30]

• East Lansing, Michigan city council voted unanimously without discussion to declare the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples' Day.^[31]

• the City Council of Santa Fe, New Mexico unanimously (8-0) approved a resolution declaring the second Monday in October, or what traditionally is Columbus Day, as Indigenous Peoples' Day in Santa Fe.^[32]

October

• the Denver City Council unanimously (12-0) approved a resolution permanently recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day on the second Monday of October.^[33]

• the City Council of Yakima, Washington voted 5 to 2 to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.

• the City Council of Phoenix, Arizona voted unanimously (9-0) to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day annually on Columbus Day. It was the largest US city to take such action.^[34]

• Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed a proclamation declaring that October 10, 2016 will be observed as Indigenous People's Day in the state. The statement also acknowledges that the state was founded and built upon lands first inhabited by indigenous peoples.^[35]

• Mayor Gregory F. Vaughn of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia signed a proclamation introduced to the Town Council by Recorder Kevin Carden declaring that day, and the second Monday of each subsequent October, to be called Indigenous Peoples' Day in the town. Harpers Ferry was already notorious as a national focal point in the history of American minorities.

References