DECEMBER 2020 /JANUARY 2021
6
FEATURE
In Honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day BY HOSANNA DIOCARES
More than 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus’s intrepid voyage into the New World ushered in a new era of exploration and discovery--and with it a slew of injustices to the native people of the land. In order to honor, recognize, and celebrate the original inhabitants of “America”, people have adopted a new holiday to replace Columbus Day: Indigenous Peoples’ Day! In 1977, the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that a new holiday to replace Columbus Day: Indigenous Peoples’ Day. As of 2020, hundreds of towns, cities, and counties as well as Washington DC and several states — Alaska, Hawai‘i, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota Vermont, and Wisconsin among them — have switched from celebrating Columbus Day to celebrating something else in its stead, be it Native American Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or Discoverers’ Day. Lecture speaker, Christielove Espinosa, explained what is Indigenous
Peoples’ Day: “What is it exactly started to honor and celebrate the native people of Turtle Island, and that refers to their history and culture, but more so now we use it to celebrate all indigenous cultures. Not only do we focus on the First Nations people but now we also focus on the native people from different plains - such as Hawai’i, Philippines, Asia - just all of these different areas where there were indigenous peoples prior to colonization.” The Student Activity Fee Board of UHWO hosted Christielove Espinosa in speaking out about Indigenous Peoples’ Day. They hosted a Zoom call available for students and the public about IPD and even had a few raffle prizes for those who joined the call. Within the Zoom call, Espinosa covered various topics, ranging from helping people understand IPD to answering a few candid questions. A part of the call worth highlighting is Espinosa talking about what it means to be indigenous. “People have this misconstrued idea that [being] indigenous has to do with blood quantum [or it] has to do with how much you practice your culture. But really, what it means to be indigenous is
[on] your ancestral ties to the individuals who were of the land prior to colonization. Being indigenous is more about having that blood or having that genealogy - it’s about having that ancestral tie.” In addition to answering the question of what does it mean to be indigenous, Espinosa covered why claiming the identity is important: “It gives me a sense of strength and resiliency knowing that I am a product and a descendant of an individual who was forced to go through so many trials and tribulations that we out of their control.” By having Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the goal is to help teach, promote, and reframe the narrative to be more accurate by providing differing perspectives ultimately aiding people to rethink true American history. To watch the recorded IDP lecture featuring Christielove Espinosa and the SAFBWO, please watch from this link: http://bit.ly/IPDrecord20 To know more about the events hosted by SAFBWO, follow their Instagram page for updates and info: @safbwo
