Local Native American groups celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day

Native American organizations celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday through song, dance, prayer and inspiration.

The Native Leadership Collective of Albuquerque and Americans for Indian Opportunity hosted cultural events at Tiguex Park. UNM’s Kiva Club did the same in the Student Union Building atrium.

“We’re still here,” said Kaia Begay, a UNM senior, Kiva Club co-president and Navajo Nation member. “That’s something I think people don’t think about or recognize. Indigenous people are thought of as being colonized or killed. They were talked about in the past tense — but we’re here now. I think that’s the main thing that should be the takeaway.”

Both the club and the two nonprofits stressed the importance of having respect for Native Americans, their history and culture as many states still celebrate Columbus Day, which marks the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas and falls on the second Monday in October.

While Columbus Day is recognized as a federal holiday, approximately 29 states and Washington, D.C., do not celebrate it, according to a recent USA Today article. Over 200 cities — including Albuquerque — have renamed the holiday, the article said, citing renamecolumbusday.org.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham established Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a state holiday in 2019. President Joe Biden has since recognized it through proclamation.

Begay said her club has advocated for Columbus's name to be scrubbed from the holiday.

“Kiva Club has fought for it to be called Indigenous Peoples’ Day because before, it was known as Columbus Day, and Native students who were part of, and not a part of, Kiva Club felt that that was wrong to be celebrating someone who committed genocide," she said. "We’ve been here generations before.”

Aside from showcasing cultural traditions, the nonprofit invited Indigenous influencer Che Jim — who has 2.5 million followers on TikTok — for a meet and greet.

‘Use education as a weapon’

Actress Deanna Allison spoke at UNM about her experience on screen and led a call to action for students to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them at the university.

Allison, 43, a Farmington native who attended Central New Mexico Community College, said she is “fond” of UNM because she has family ties to the institution.

Quoting the Chief Manuelito, a prominent Navajo leader, Allison told students to “use education as a weapon.”

“You all have the mentors and resources to take it wherever you want,” Allison said. “Eagle man, eagle woman — you can fly wherever you want.”

In “Dark Winds,” Allison plays Emma Leaphorn, a nurse and wife of the show’s main character, Joe Leaphorn, a veteran Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant based in Kayenta, Arizona. The show chronicles Joe Leaphorn and two other tribal police officers in the 1970s.

But before Allison was an actress, she “had to moonlight” in various roles in the film industry.

“I learned as much as possible so I could find a job wherever I could fit in this industry,” she said.

Allison’s moonlighting included writing plays with other Native American women.

“It was very challenging; everyone had different ideas,” she said, “and that’s OK.”

The all-female group, Allison said, chose to highlight the lives of Native Americans.

“We didn’t write to please an audience. We wrote from the stories that we felt that Indigenous women needed to let out and see,” Allison said. “It’s OK to feel ... crushed, because we all have those same experiences.”

Allison told students that their “truth is only your story.”

“Every person here has a story to tell. It’s up to you to be the one to share that,” she said.

Allison’s message resonated with Cody Yazzie, a Diné member and UNM senior majoring in biochemistry.

“I enjoyed it because our stories need to be told,” Yazzie said. “Our stories can be shared in multiple avenues, whether that’s through media — like Deanna is doing — or through our research.”

Aside from listening to Allison, Yazzie was at a table in the atrium with long pieces of a paper allowing people to write messages about Indigenous Peoples’ Day. One sheet asked people what they wanted to learn more about regarding Native science. One person wrote that they wanted to learn “how land, as a teacher, creates new knowledge.”

Tiguex Park

A press release from the Native American Leadership Collective of Albuquerque said the day was meant to bring “an opportunity to promote civic engagement in the urban Native American community and highlight the social and cultural assets we contribute to the well-being, resilience, and vibrancy of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Metro area.”

At the park, only minutes away from UNM, local Native Americans wore Native clothing and danced with children. Children who participated got a workout, jumping over obstacles for physical activity.

That was just one of the event’s new activities, which included a Native food sovereignty market and Native food vendors, a press release said.

“It was a great family event,” said Americans for Indian Opportunity Executive Director Laura Harris, who acted as a stage director during the event.

Harris said she felt “joyful” celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day because “everybody had smiles on their faces and everyone was happy to be in community together.”

Celebrating Native American contributions in the U.S. and Albuquerque does not mean “we’re canceling anybody else out,” Harris said. “We don’t erase history and we’re not canceling Columbus. We’re just celebrating ourselves.”