This weekend, celebrate New Mexico’s connections

Santa Fe is expanding its Indigenous Peoples Day celebration this year. It’s not a day. It’s a long weekend. Beginning Saturday and running through Monday, the city, its residents and visitors will honor our connections with the 23 tribes, nations and pueblos of New Mexico. These are days to glory in the gorgeous fall weather while enjoying traditional performances and learning more about indigenous culture.

The schedule of activities was put together in collaboration, much like the celebration itself. Tribal leaders worked with city officials and others to create a program of dancing; drumming; singing; community outreach booths; and the presence of arts, educational and cultural groups.

Santa Fe is one of a number of cities across the country that has taken Columbus Day and renamed it to honor the continent’s original people, a recognition that America did not need to be “discovered.”

Santa Fe made the change in 2016. Now, cities and states will be honoring the first inhabitants of our great land.

The celebration of this day also recognizes the importance of Santa Fe’s sense of place, that this is a destination like few others in the United States.

People come here, whether to live or simply to visit, because what they see and do while here is unique.

Expect crowds downtown; this also is the first weekend of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, where enthusiasts watch the balloons fly in the morning and head up to Santa Fe in the afternoons.

We always have an upsurge in visitors this time of year. They have an opportunity to take home posters or T-shirts featuring art by George Toya of Jemez Pueblo, a piece commissioned in 2017 by the city of Santa Fe that represents the interconnected indigenous world of New Mexico.

Given the commotion of the past year, with controversy over the removal of the Entrada pageant from Fiesta de Santa Fe, and its peaceful resolution — a unifying, multicultural prayer service in its place — gathering for Indigenous Peoples Day is another opportunity for Santa Fe to set an example. Rather than fight over our differences, we are a town that is becoming stronger because of, not despite, these contrasts.

Growing respect and understanding is not easy, but it is an effort well worth taking.

That’s especially true when it includes celebrations such as our Fiesta de Santa Fe and now, a three-day Indigenous Peoples Day commemoration.

During this long weekend, there will be dancing on the Plaza from noon to 3:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday, events starting at 9:30 a.m. (dignitaries speak at 10 a.m.), ending around 5:30 p.m. (Find the full schedule online at www.santafe.org/ Indigenous_Peoples_Day/)

Take a break from work or weekend plans and connect yourself with Native New Mexico. It’s a place where we can all get along.