Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Oct. 8, 2024
Yá’átééh/Greetings Brandeis Community,
In Navajo, “Yá’átééh” is a greeting and it also means goodness. On October 9, we invite you to join us to participate in our Indigenous Peoples’ Day program at the Brandeis Intercultural Center. The observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about Native American and Indigenous peoples’ presence, histories, and resilience. More than acknowledgement, it is about active support of Indigenous communities and caring for the lands we reside upon.
According to National Today, “The first seed of Indigenous Peoples’ Day was planted at a U.N. international conference on discrimination in 1977. The first state to recognize the day was South Dakota in 1989... Today, 14 U.S. states celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and not Columbus Day, as well as the District of Columbia. More than 130 cities [in Massachusetts] including Arlington, Amherst, Cambridge, Brookline, Marblehead, Great Barrington, Northampton, Provincetown, Somerville, and Salem also celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” Here at Brandeis, Indigenous Peoples’ Day was officially recognized in 2016 and added to the academic calendar.
Our theme this year is “Embodying Our Land Acknowledgement” and we invite you to join us on Wednesday, October 9th, at our Intercultural Center for a celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the ICC
Wednesday, October 9
4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
We will share how we are developing our land acknowledgement statement while in conversation with local Native community members. We will also have an Indigenous musician provide an honor song which will be followed by a community dinner.
To learn more about previous Indigenous Peoples Day events here at Brandeis, we encourage you to check out the Intercultural Center’s online archive of previous speakers.
We hope to see you there!
In solidarity,
LeManuel Bitsóí, EdD
Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion