Monday, Mayor Ed Murray signed the resolution proclaiming the second Monday in October “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” in Seattle:
“Seattle sits on the homelands of many tribal nations,” Murray said at a ceremony surrounded by tribal leaders and City councilmembers. “We have many ongoing works with our neighbor tribes, and we welcome the tens of thousands of American Indians and Alaska Natives who have come to call this city home. Today’s commemoration is intended to spark a productive conversation about the contributions of indigenous peoples, and, most importantly, their continued involvement in the cultural fabric of our community and the entire country.”
Mark your calendars. Next year you won’t have to be sad about the holiday. You can learn more about the resolution here.
Just sayin’ that while we are renaming holidays in Seattle, St. Patrick’s Day should be renamed Lughnasadh and the date should be moved to August. St. Patrick’s Day reflects the Christian usurpation native Irish culture and Lughnasadh honors the indigenous traditions of Ireland.
(Sigh)
Do the indigenous people like the fact their holiday celebrates the arrival of a race of people who were bent on destroying them and very nearly did so? Seems pretty ironic.
Heh heh, good point! I say we should move this holiday to Chief Seattle’s date of death (we don’t know his exact birthday), which would be June 7th. But I would agree we should scrap a day honoring a genocidal maniac and honor a real hero: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day
Or perhaps an Italian-American hero, take your pick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_Americans