Inclusive Celebrations at USN: Indigenous Peoples Day

Learn about the origins of Indigenous Peoples Day and how USN students are marking the occasion. Click here to help us recognize the many holidays and cultural observances celebrated within the USN community.
By Ian Dinkins, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

What’s the Indigenous Peoples Day?
With a presidential proclamation in 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden commemorated Indigenous Peoples Day to celebrate and honor “the invaluable contributions and resilience” of “American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians”, celebrate their histories and cultures, “recognize their inherent sovereignty, and commit to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.” Although presidential proclamations have been issued every year since, Indigenous Peoples Day was first instituted in Berkeley, California, in 1992 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492, according to the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Brazil. 

Indigenous Peoples Day also coincides with Columbus Day, which was “founded by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison in 1892 in response to the horrific, xenophobic attack that took the lives of 11 Italian Americans the year before.” Since a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress in 1934, the second Monday of October each year has also been marked as Columbus Day, in commemoration of explorer Christopher Columbus, who sailed from Spain to what is now the the Bahamas in 1742, marking the beginning of European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Date
October 14, 2024; always the second Monday in October 

What are the traditions associated with this day?
Indigenous Peoples Day is often marked by protests against memorials to Columbus, for environmental justice, for the return of Indigenous lands, and in honor of Indigenous women, according to U.S. News and World Report. Many Native Americans participate in demonstrations before celebrating with Native food, performances, art, music, and traditional ceremonies.

How is the USN community recognizing this day? 
Through several lessons, students in all divisions of University School of Nashville will learn more about the origins of Indigenous Peoples. Fifth Grade Social Studies Teacher Connie Fink and High School History Teacher Mackey Luffman each share land acknowledgment statements with their class.

A Land Acknowldegment Statement is a public statement of the name of the traditional Native inhabitants of a particular place. The Land Acknowledgement Statement for Luffman’s classes reads, “The Land: Please take a moment to acknowledge the land we live on and its original inhabitants. Each of our families can tell its unique story about how we came to live in Nashville; for some of us, that arrival may have been weeks ago, and for others, that arrival was generations ago. Regardless of our family’s story, we should recognize that Nashville and its surrounding communities sit on the ancestral lands of the Cherokee, Shawnee, and other neighboring tribes. Our life in Nashville today is part of the legacy of the forced removal of those Native American peoples by the federal government in the 1830s. As we pursue our history lessons, let’s remember the sacred status of this land for those tribes, and resolve that our learning about them and their ancestors will be done with respect and honor.”

Sites like Native-Land.ca can show you whose lands you reside on and the treaties that remain in place today. USN's campus is on the land of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee), Shawandasse Tula (Shawnee), and S'atsoyaha (Yuchi).

HS History Teacher Ayesha Nawaz said she will commemorate the observance with her 11th grade U.S. History class when the group travels to Long Hunter State Park to attend the Pow Wow, a gathering of American Indians from across the nation, to learn about how Indigenous people today celebrate and live their cultures.  

Traditional Recipe
According to Live Kindly, indigenous cuisines are rooted in ancestral ingredients provided by the local land. Sometimes, this includes meat and fish, but it also largely relies on grains, roots, herbs, fruits, and vegetables native to North America. Corn, wild rice, squash, tomatoes, beans, and potatoes feature prominently in many indigenous dishes.

During a Forest Day last year, students in the Class of 2032 honored Tennessee's indigenous tribes by preparing Three Sisters Stew, a recipe from the Chickasaw tribe, with Lower School Naturalist Teacher Lauren Hagan. Click here for the recipe that combines the three sisters: corn, beans, and squash. 

The Office of Marketing & Communications is making a concerted effort to recognize the many holidays and cultural observances the USN community celebrates. Click here to let us know holidays and cultural observances you would like to help others in the USN community learn about this year.
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