For Michaela Pavlat, cultural interpreter at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, the day is one of celebration, reflection and recognition that Indigenous communities are fighting for land rights, for the U.S.

“As long as you’re on Native land and stolen land, it’s Indigenous Peoples Day,” said Pavlat, who is Sault Ste.

On social media, people posted educational resources that included maps of Indigenous land, ways to support Indigenous communities, and recommendations for television shows and films that prominently feature Indigenous people, like “Reservation Dogs.”.

President Joe Biden last week issued the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day, the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus Columbus Day in recognition of the Italian explorer’s brutal treatment of people who already occupied what came to be known as the Americas.

About 20 states observe Indigenous Peoples Day by law, through proclamation or other action, along with cities and universities across the country.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on Monday hosted a virtual conversation about mixed Black and Indigenous identity and how the struggles of one side sometimes get overshadowed by the other.

“Everything that we do is to bring about Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty on this land and to dismantle white supremacy and settler colonialism,” said Amber Starks, who is African American and a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation