Cada 12 de octubre, en muchos países de Abya Yala aún se sigue celebrando la invasión de sus territorios. Estas celebraciones, denominadas “el descubrimiento de América”, “el día de Colón”, “el encuentro entre dos mundos”, entre otras expresiones, no representan lo que realmente pasó en 1942: despojo, muerte y destrucción.
By Daisee Francour (Oneida, CS STAFF)
Christopher Columbus did not "discover" America because Indigenous Peoples have been on Turtle Island since time immemorial. Today and every day, let's remember and celebrate this land's First Peoples! It's time to recognize that celebrating the life of Christopher Columbus also celebrates the erasure of Indigenous existence. It is an act of violence, not solidarity. By commemorating Indigenous Peoples Day, we recognize colonization persists today and perpetuates oppression and violence against Indigenous Peoples as well as their
Kate R. Finn (Osage) is Executive Director of First Peoples Worldwide. Her expertise concerns articulating how the impacts of development in Indigenous communities must be addressed at all levels of business and investment in order to build healthy Native economies and communities for generations. Among several papers, she co-authored Social Cost and Material Loss: The Dakota Access Pipeline, Harnessing Private Equity for Indigenous Peoples and Responsible Resource Development and Prevention of Sex Trafficking: Safeguarding Native Women and Children on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Her article “Recalibrating Risk Assessment for Indigenous Women” appeared in the March 2020 issue of Green Money Journal. Prior to her directorship, Kate served as Staff Attorney for First Peoples.
Kate holds a J.D. and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. from Princeton University. She was the inaugural American Indian Law Program Fellow at the University of Colorado Law, where she worked directly with Tribes and Native communities. She serves on the boards of the First Nations Community Financial and Unified Solutions Tribal Community Development Group. Prior to her work with First Peoples, she served as a Program Coordinator with the Denver Victim Services Network, working on the local level to connect service agencies and advocated at the federal level for adequate protections for victims of crime. Kate is an enrolled citizen of the Osage Nation.
It's time to recognize that celebrating the life of Christopher Columbus also celebrates the erasure of Indigenous existence. There is a growing movement around the country to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day but more work remains to be done. We are excited to share some local and national events celebrating Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Peoples Day.
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By Nati Garicia (Maya Mam, CS Staff)
On September 30, 2021, Canada will hold its first-ever statutory holiday observation of Orange Shirt Day, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, to commemorate the missing and murdered children from residential schools and honor the healing journey of residential school survivors. Orange Shirt Day has been widely observed since 2013 to raise awareness about the residential school system and its impact on Indigenous communities for over a century.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.