It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day, on October 14, Monday! Now, what exactly is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday that celebrates the Indigenous peoples of America. This holiday was actually an alternative holiday for Columbus Day. Columbus Day celebrates the arrival of the Europeans in America on October 12, 1492. When the Europeans arrived in the Americas, they started seeing the local natives there as inferior, so Columbus started treating the natives in a harmful way such as forcing them to do labor. People who believed this was wrong started calling Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an act of protest. Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrates native history, culture, and traditions. One way that people observe this day is by wearing an orange shirt. Wearing an orange shirt honors the history of the Indigenous people, and symbolizes that indigenous children matter. You could visit a local museum, like the San Jose Museum of Art which is on top of the Ohlone Nation, to honor the past. The Ohlone Nation have been living in the Bay Area for over 10,000 years! To celebrate even further, identifying which native land you live on or live close to, and exploring it is a good idea. A land near San Jose is the Ohlone Nation. As a final thought about Indigenous Peoples’ Day, an enclosing quote by the First Nation’s Development Institute: ‘Every day is the right time to honor Native culture, strength and fortitude. Every day is an opportunity to tell the world: We are here. We are still here!’