City Council Meeting Date: October 2, 2018
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Title
Consider Resolution Recognizing the Second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Northfield, Minnesota.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council is asked to consider the attached Resolution recognizing the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Northfield.
Summary Report:
The Human Rights Commission approved a motion at their September 13, 2018 meeting to recommend that the City Council to consider the attached resolution recognizing the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Northfield. This is in addition to the recognition of Columbus Day. There will not be a need to approve annually as there is a clause that puts this in as a permanent action unless there is a future resolution changing or amending this action.
The Northfield Historical Society Executive Director Cathy Osterman reviewed the resolution with Sue Garwood from the Rice County Historical Society. Ms. Garwood indicated that there were no Ojibwe in the Northfield area, and as for the Dakota, they never used the Northfield area for long-term living. Traditionally, this area was hunting grounds for them and they would have been transient as far as our specific area, choosing to settle along lakes.
The United States federal government, the State of Minnesota, and the City of Northfield recognize Columbus Day on the second Monday of October, in accordance with the federal holiday established in 1937. In 1990 representatives from 120 Indigenous nations at the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance unanimously passed a resolution to transform Columbus Day into an occasion to strengthen the process of continental unity and struggle towards liberation, and thereby use the occasion to reveal a more accurate historical record.
Indigenous Peoples Day can be used to reflect upon the history of how Indigenou...
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