{"id":18378,"date":"2021-11-22T12:06:32","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T17:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=18378"},"modified":"2021-11-22T12:07:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T17:07:44","slug":"gaylord-news-indigenous-peoples-day-continues-momentum-across-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/11\/22\/gaylord-news-indigenous-peoples-day-continues-momentum-across-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaylord News: Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day continues momentum across nation"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Piominko\"<\/a>
A statue of Piominko, whose leadership was recognized by the Chickasaw Nation as Piominko Day on October 11, 2021, stands in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Photo: DiAnn L’Roy<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Tribal members across Oklahoma reflect on Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day<\/div>\r\n
Monday, November 22, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Nancy Marie Spears<\/div>\r\n
Gaylord News<\/div>\r\n
gaylordnews.net<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n Grayson, 59, a Muscogee Nation citizen and Freedman descendant who lives in Tulsa, calls himself an \u201cunabashed advocate and financial supporter of the rights of the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes.\u201d

<\/p>\r\n He said he doesn\u2019t concern himself with what Oklahoma, other states or even President Joe Biden are doing \u2013 although Biden was the first to issue a presidential proclamation<\/a> acknowledging the holiday \u2013 because Grayson thinks this celebration and honor should fall on the tribes.

<\/p>\r\n His tribe doesn\u2019t have a separate day officializing the holiday, nor any holidays commemorating its warriors or heroes, something Grayson finds hypocritical.

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President Joe Biden is making history with the first-ever White House proclamation on Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/p>\r\n But he\u2019s left wondering why the tribe doesn\u2019t assert its sovereignty by celebrating the figures important to Muscogee history and culture, instead of waiting for state and federal governments to become more inclusive.

<\/p>\r\n \u201cWhy are you waiting on the white man to come up with some s— for us to celebrate when we should be doing it ourselves?\u201d Grayson asked. \u201cIt’s your own history, anyway. The best people to celebrate Indigenous Day is Indigenous people. Let them create it.\u201d

<\/p>\r\n He pointed to women warriors, celebrated tribal leaders and a host of other figures in tribal history worthy of recognition.

<\/p>\r\n Starting in 1934<\/a>, Congress issued a joint resolution calling on each American president to designate October 12 as Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day, also celebrated October 12, started gaining traction in the late 1970s.

<\/p>\r\n Nineteen states now observe both holidays either by official celebration or via proclamations: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as Washington, D.C.

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Today, we observe #PiominkoDay in the Chickasaw Nation and remember the influential Chickasaw leader for his service to…<\/p>Posted by The Chickasaw Nation<\/a> on Monday, October 11, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n Although these states have designated the day, it’s not recognized as a national legal holiday. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November “National American Indian Heritage Month,” according to the Native American Heritage Month<\/a> site hosted by the Library of Congress. Since 1994, U.S. presidents have issued similar proclamations, with variations on the name.

<\/p>\r\n On October 29, Biden issued the proclamation for November as “National Native American Heritage Month” and urged people to celebrate “Native American Heritage Day” on November 26, according to the White House<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\n Rebecca Nagle, a Cherokee journalist and host of the podcast \u201cThis Land<\/a>,\u201d said she thinks one of the ways anti-Indigenous racism functions presently in the United States is through erasure. A national holiday, she said, doesn\u2019t eliminate the racist symbols often seen at Halloween.

<\/p>\r\n For example, there was a haunted house named the \u201cTrail of Fears\u201d in Moore<\/a>, Oklahoma, and one called \u201cTrail of Fear Scream Park\u201d in Lawton<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\n \u201cEven though a holiday like Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day is symbolic, those types of things only go so far,\u201d Nagle said. \u201cI do think it’s still really important, because it pushes back that erasure, and helps remind folks that we’re still here.\u201d

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#ICYMI: In honor of Sequoyah and this year\u2019s bicentennial celebration of the Cherokee syllabary, Cherokee Nation has become the first Native American tribe to use motion and facial capture technology…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\n Some tribes in Oklahoma have established their own holidays, independently celebrating tribally specific figures and other cultural accomplishments.

<\/p>\r\n Nagle said tribally specific holidays are vital to push stereotypical narratives away from tribes. Some tribes, she said, celebrate historical events or religious holidays, independently celebrating heritage and language through tribal government, ceremonial grounds or churches.

<\/p>\r\n The Chickasaw Nation celebrated<\/a> Piominko Day on October 11, remembering the influential Chickasaw leader for his protection of tribal sovereignty and his service as a diplomat and negotiator during the infancy of the United States.

<\/p>\r\n Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. spoke with BNC News<\/a> about sovereignty issues on Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day, and the next day signed a proclamation declaring<\/a> October 15 as Sequoyah Day<\/a> in Cherokee Nation, honoring the 200th anniversary of the Cherokee Syllabary, which was created to give the Cherokee language a written form.

<\/p>\r\n \u201cWe have our own holidays that are significant,\u201d Nagle said. \u201cSo the more that tribes want to publicly acknowledge those dates, I think that’s great.\u201d

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