Byline: Daniel Cocklin
On Oct. 12, we celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is a day to recognize the history and contributions of Indigenous People and the Tribal Nations to the Americas.
The holiday is intentionally held on the same day as Columbus Day, when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas, beginning the harsh treatment and violence against Indigenous Americans and also the European colonization of the land.
In 2021, former President Joe Biden was the first president to recognize the holiday. It is still not an officially recognized federal holiday, though dozens of states observe the holiday.
Anthropologist and professor Shannon Speed said in a 2015 op-ed that “virtually none of my university students have had any education whatsoever in the history of this country’s treatment of the 10 million or so people who lived here before Europeans arrived.” It is as if there is an erasure of Indigenous Peoples in America.
More recently, proposals for commercial development have raised concerns about the protection of lands with historical and cultural ties to Indigenous communities. The Trump administration is considering doing a land swap that would give a parcel of Yosemite National Park to a private commercial developer. Kingsbarn Realty Capital is planning to build a housing development just 28 miles by road away from the park. Kingsbarn Realty Capital wants to turn an 11 mile strip of the land into a direct access road.
Even though the proposal has not been approved nor disapproved yet, Trump administration officials have been quietly pressuring for it, according to The Washington Sun. The proposal raises questions about how public lands with cultural and historical significance are managed and who makes the decisions, as this proposal could influence future proposals of land connected to Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day brings back the awareness and recognition of the accomplishments and contributions by the Indigenous community. Here is a list of these contributions.
Native Americans developed rubber before anyone else in the world. A rubber ball was taken to Europe by colonizers which globalized the material. Now, rubber is used in everyday life in all parts of the world.
Indigenous people pioneered early pain medication across the Americas. Using natural remedies like Jimson weed, capsaicin and black willow tree bark, healers were able to relieve pain in broken bones and plaster cuts and bruises. Black willow tree bark produced salicin, which was the basic starting point in creating today’s aspirin.
In 2019, Joy Harjo became the first Native American poet laureate. In the poem “An American Sunrise,” Harjo talks about Indigenous identity in a modern world that may look down on their culture.
Take Aaron Yazzie who is a mechanical systems engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Yazzie helped build the drill bits for the rover on Mars that is drilling for and collecting rock cores in the Jezero Crater.
The local Catawba Nation in Rock Hill joined the patriots during the Revolutionary War to fight against England. The Catawba Nation is known for their ancient pottery technique.
Indigenous communities have contributed greatly to American society. Indigenous Peoples’ Day shows us that it is important to acknowledge the pain and violence instead of praising European perpetrators. It is also a day to recognize the modern contributions and existence of Indigenous People today, making sure that they are not forgotten.
Cree First Nations born artist Kent Monkman once said, “History is a narrative; it’s a collection of stories sanctioned by the ruling power, and reinforced through words and images that suit them. That was the whole point of taking on history painting: to authorize these moments that have been swept under the rug for generations.”