Evers creates Indigenous People’s Day coinciding with Columbus Day
MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers has designated the second Monday of each October to honor indigenous people — a state observance that will coincide with the federal Columbus Day.
Evers created Indigenous People's Day through an executive order, three years after students at Indian Community School in Franklin began petitioning lawmakers to do so. Evers signed the order Tuesday at the school.
“Native Americans in Wisconsin and throughout our country have suffered unjust treatment — often at the hands of our government — and today is about recognizing that Wisconsin would not be all that it is without Indigenous people,” Evers said in a statement.
Wisconsin is home to 12 native nations — 11 of which are federally recognized. Tehassi Hill, chairman of the Oneida Nation, said the declaration seeks to educate Wisconsin residents about their nation's history.
“There's a misconception in the founding of the United States that we were discovered,” Hill said at the signing. “Clearly there were people here.”
Evers' order does not replace Columbus Day but combines the new state observance with the federal holiday.