Hometown Alaska: Indigenous Peoples’ Day can be celebrated all year. Here’s how.

The Tagiumiut Dancers perform at the 2019 Alaska Federation of Natives Conference at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. (Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)

Indigenous Peoples’ Day strikes the intersection of beauty and triumph, controversy and pain. Many have fought to reclaim its purpose and name from Columbus, to the people of the land he claimed to discover.

The history of this day has shown the power of the voices of the marginalized as we largely no longer recognize this day as Columbus Day. South Dakota became the first state to recognize what was then called “Native Americans’ Day” in 1990. The earliest known date of the celebration is in 1792 and it became a national holiday in 1934, and federal holiday in 1971, and considering those dates you can feel how recent of a change this is.

As it pertains to Alaska, what does Indigenous Peoples’ Day truly mean?

Listen to our latest episode of Hometown Alaska:

HOST:

Justin Williams

GUESTS:

Lisa Wade

Meda Dewitt

LINKS:

• Recover Alaska resources and frequently asked questions
• Anchorage Health Department substance misuse resources
• Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention

PARTICIPATE:

• Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (10-11 a.m.)
• Send e-mail to [email protected] before, during or after the live broadcast (E-mails may be read on air).
• Post your comment or question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE (RECORDED) : Monday, October 11, 2021 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, October 11, 2021 at 8 p.m.

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