PEOPLE: Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2023 will honor Native Americans for their contributions to the United States
AGN.News Team
April 29, 2023
PHOENIX (AGN.News) – On April 19, 2023, the Phoenix City Council voted to recognize the second Monday of October each year as a city holiday in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2023 has been declared by Phoenix Mayor and City Council a City Holiday beginning this year on Monday October 9, 2023.
This will be a paid holiday for city workers and available city services will follow a simular pattern to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day or Cesar Chavez Day.
What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrates the history and culture of indigenous American peoples, recognizing the losses they experienced and honoring the contributions they continue to make in our society.” – Phoenix City Council
The contributions of indigenous peoples in the history of the United States goes back hundreds of years. Today, indigenous peoples continue to make monumental contributions to the United States of America.
Indigenous People are local business owners, local and national leaders, and government officials from federal judges to the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary Deb Haaland.
Secretary Haaland is a Native American and an enrolled citizen of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in west-central New Mexico, near the city of Albuquerque.
Federally Recognized Tribes Nationwide
As of March 24, 2023, 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian affairs (BIA) of the United States. Of this number 228 are located in Alaska. These are federally recognized Alaska Native Tribes.
The state of Arizona contains many Native Americans going back since time immemorial when tribe entered the region many centuries ago. There are many small tribes located in the state who have an ancestral history dating back hundreds of years.
The Southern Athabascan peoples and the Pascua Yaqui settle in Arizona in the early 20th century. Arizona has the third largest Native American population in the United States.
Arizona’s Federally Recognized Tribes
Almost 25 percent of the state is reservation land. Many tribal communities overlap municipal boundaries. The city of Scottsdale and many other communities are seamlessly connected to tribal communities.
The Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the United States followed by the Tohono O’odham Nation in southeast Arizona with the second-largest reservation.
There are 17 federally recognized tribes completely within the borders of Arizona, and five more whose territory spans multiple states. Of these 22 tribes, 20 are members of the inter-Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA).
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Recognized Locally
Since 1977, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been discussed by national organization. That year, the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas began conversations of replacing Columbus Day in the Americas.
In 1992, the City Council of Berkeley, California instituted Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and since then, other cities and states have followed suit.
In 2021, President Joe Biden showed his leadership on recognizing a national responsibility to incorporate Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a day to honor Native Peoples in the country.
President Joe Biden’s Leadership
On October 8, 2021, the president issued a Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021. On October 7, 2022, the president issued another Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2022.
It stated in part, “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the sovereignty, resilience, and immense contributions that Native Americans have made to the world; and we recommit to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties. For centuries, Indigenous Peoples were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, displaced, assimilated, and and banned from worshiping or performing many sacred ceremonies. Yet today, they remain some of our greatest environmental stewards.”
He continued, “I learned long ago that Tribal Nations do better when they make their own decisions.”
Thanks to cities like Phoenix, Berkeley, and countless others – Tribal Nations are receiving the honor and praise due them as well-respected Americans – with leadership skills as valued citizens of this great nation.
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