Indigenous Peoples Day must now replace Columbus Day
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has removed the Christopher Columbus statues from both Grant Park and the Little Italy neighborhood “until further notice.”
With these statues gone, it is now time to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day both in Chicago and throughout Illinois.
At least 10 states and more than 140 cities now celebrate some version of Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday in October. Berkeley, California, made the shift first in 1992. Oak Park and Evanston made the switch in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
In 2017, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that placed Indigenous Peoples Day as the last Monday in September. This was merely a token gesture, however, and, as has been repeated over and over in history, Native Americans were not consulted during the crafting and passing of this bill.
Rather, Indigenous Peoples Day should be a paid holiday for government workers.
Last summer, Ald. Rossana RodríguezSánchez, 33rd — in whose ward the American Indian Center of Chicago is located — and Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, resurrected a bill to replace the Columbus Day holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day — an idea that the City Council buried three years ago but is gaining attention this time around. And, earlier this year, the Chicago Board of Education decided that Chicago’s public schools will no longer observe Columbus Day, replacing that October school holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day. Until that decision, Chicago Public Schools had celebrated both holidays, but the decision means that only Indigenous Peoples Day will now celebrated.
Even though the very word “Chicago” is an Algonquian word meaning onion field, Native Americans essentially have been erased from the history of Chicago and the current Native American community is invisible to many.
This is about honoring Native Americans past and current contributions to Chicago and the state of Illinois.
Chicago is one of the primary population centers for Native Americans, representing the largest population of Native Americans in the Midwest, the second largest east of the Mississippi River, and the ninth largest in the entire nation.
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day promotes a more equitable and inclusive city for all Chicagoans and is not meant to diminish the contributions of Italian Americans. Rather, Indigenous Peoples Day would bring more awareness to the contributions that American Indians have made to Chicago. It also would highlight the plight of the Indigenous populations elsewhere in North, Central and South America who have never recuperated from the invasion and exploitation initiated by Columbus’ four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain.
One of the strengths of Chicago — and, by extension, Illinois — is its diversity. While we have always derived our strength from our diversity, diversity coupled with inclusion is a newer concept. There is a popular phrase that diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is actually being asked to dance.
There is enough room in Chicago and the state of Illinois for an honoring of Indigenous Peoples Day along with the contributions of Italian Americans while not continuing to laud the violent invasions of Columbus.
In terms of serving the needs of Native Americans here today, it would be helpful to have a point of contact in both the mayor’s office and the governor’s office to serve as liaisons to the Native American community. Many states, such as Colorado, Indiana and North Carolina, have Native American affairs commissions that study and make recommendations to appropriate federal, state and local governmental agencies in areas such as employment, education, health, housing and civil rights.
We have a rich history and strong present here in Illinois. It is time we honor our past — the full past — and acknowledge and empower the present-day Native American community. Not only is it the right thing to do, it will make us even stronger.
Heather Miller (Wyandotte) is executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago. Mary Smith (Cherokee Nation) is chair and president of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation, an Illinois nonprofit that trains Native American girls in STEM, and is past CEO of the Indian Health Service.