Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! (audio)

NPR.org; Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; TheTakeAway.org

Author Emma Bowman (NPR)

This year (2021) marks the first time a U.S. president has officially recognized "Indigenous Peoples' Day."

President Biden issued a proclamation on Friday to observe this Oct. 11th as a day to honor Native Americans, their resilience and their contributions to American society throughout history.

This they did even as they faced deadly assimilation pressures, racist discrimination, and a slow genocide spanning generations and continuing today.

Indigenous Peoples' Day 2021 (NPR)

The move shifts focus from the national fantasy "origin story" embodied in Columbus Day, the federal holiday celebrating Jewish-Spanish Eurocentric enslaver Cristobal Columbus, whose day is being displaced by Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Dylan Baca, a 19-year-old Arizonan who was instrumental in helping win the proclamation, is overwhelmed by the gravity of Pres. Biden's action.

"I still don't think I've fully absorbed what that has meant," Baca said. "This is a profound thing the president has done, and it's going to mean a lot to so many people."

• AUDIO: Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day?

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