5 Young Native Americans On What Indigenous Peoples Day Means To Them
Los Angeles has joined a number of cities renaming the Columbus Day holiday.
From 2017: On Monday, as people across the country celebrated the controversial Columbus
Day holiday, young Native Americans in Los Angeles marked Indigenous Peoples Day for the
first time in their city.
After an almost unanimous city council vote in August, Los Angeles joined a number of other
U.S. cities and states in renaming the Columbus Day holiday. The change is meant to recognize
Native communities who were in the Americas long before Christopher Columbus “discovered”
the continent ― and to avoid honoring Columbus’ legacy, which included enslaving and killing
countless indigenous people.
Other places have also established holidays to celebrate indigenous peoples, from the United
Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Aug. 9 to the Day of the Indian,
celebrated in countries like Mexico and Brazil on April 19.
And some other U.S. cities ― like Denver, Seattle, and recently, Austin and Salt Lake City ― as
well as states like Vermont and Hawaii, will also be celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day.
But the decision is particularly notable in Los Angeles, as it is the U.S. city with the
second-largest number of Native Americans, after New York City. While the name change won’t
officially take effect until 2019, many Native Americans are already celebrating Indigenous
Peoples Day in Los Angeles this Oct. 9.
The name change follows years of advocacy by local Native leaders and young people,
according to Marcos Aguilar, head of Semillas Community Schools, which mainly serves
indigenous students. At the August city council meeting, young Native organizers gathered at
Los Angeles City Hall to dance and sing in Native languages.
HuffPost spoke to five young Native Americans about what the city’s first Indigenous Peoples
Day means to them. Here’s what they said.
Aaron Martin
Martin, 28, identifies as Native, of the
Fernandeño-Tataviam Band of Mission Indians.
This coming weekend, he’ll dance at an
Indigenous Peoples Day festival that his tribe is
co-hosting in San Fernando Recreation Park.
“Before, I hated the day, because it was
Columbus Day, and I tried not to celebrate it.
Now that it’s Indigenous Peoples Day, it’s one to
be proud of and celebrate.
The truth is, indigenous people were here first,
and they shouldn’t honor something that was an
attempted genocide. I’m hoping it sets an example. Maybe it will open other cities, states to
open their eyes, to make the switch. I don’t see why it would be so hard ― it is the right thing to
do.”
Ja-Rey Kilpatrick
Kilpatrick, 16, is a junior at Semillas Community
Schools who identifies as Afro-Mexica, of one of the
indigenous tribes of Mexico. Kilpatrick performed
traditional Native dances at City Hall on the day of the
vote in August.
“The establishment of [Indigenous Peoples Day] is
recognizing the trauma people of color have suffered,
bringing others to question their knowledge, what
people have taught them.
I was there that day [at City Hall] with our school. As a
danzante, my role was important because my
ancestors couldn’t practice their traditions and beliefs,
so singing in Native languages made me proud of
fighting for recognition of indigenous peoples.
I hope it will spark others to want to get to know
themselves. A lot of people have indigenous connections to the land. I hope the name change
will cause people to look for who they are.”
A still from a film
by Timothy
Ornelas, showing
a Dakota Access
Pipeline protest in
Los Angeles in
February 2017.
Timothy Ornelas ​Ornelas, 28, is a student at Los Angeles Film School who identifies as Native,
of the Fernandeño-Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Ornelas was at City Hall in August when
the name change was approved.
“It’s not just a switch in the day, it’s a kind of correction: to switch Columbus Day and celebrate
indigenous people, and put them into the narrative. At City Hall, we had opposition from the
Italian community [who wanted to keep Columbus Day]. I didn’t even think about that ― it
actually made me understand that every community is fighting for different things, and to make
their history more present and mainstream. LA is a huge city, but still ... Hopefully one day
before my kids are older, it changes [to Indigenous Peoples Day] on a federal level and we
actually see it on our calendars. It’s a lot of work still.”
Antonio Tlaloc Carrillo
Carrillo, 16, is a junior at Semillas
Community Schools in Los Angeles
and identifies as Mexica, one of the
indigenous tribes of Mexico.
“Last year in our [school] running club,
about 10 of us participated in a run
from our school to City Hall, where a
few of us spoke on why Columbus
Day should be abolished and
replaced.
For me, this day represented the
genocide of millions of people and
hundreds of cultures and languages. I
felt relief to know that [now some]
indigenous people of the Americas
can finally live in a place where
they’re not surrounded by people celebrating a man who created the genocide of their
ancestors. I want this day to be spread across not just the country, but all of the Americas.”
Citlaly Patricia Ortega
Ortega, 16, is a student at John F.
Kennedy High School who
identifies as Native, of the
Fernandeño-Tataviam Band of
Mission Indians.
“In history class, another student
once said that without Columbus
there would be no us, or United
States today. That really got under
my skin; I don’t think he knew what
really happened. After [the change to Indigenous Peoples Day], I know some people were
looking into it and were surprised, and were actually interested and understood it better.
When I say I’m Native American, I get shocked faces. The change [to Indigenous Peoples Day]
is a good thing because people know that we’re still out here. There are indigenous people ―
we should be heard.”