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posted by martyb on Sunday October 10 2021, @06:16PM   Printer-friendly

[Ed note: In observance of the US federal holiday which is observed on Monday October 11, 2021, I am inviting the editorial staff to run stories on a weekend schedule tomorrow. Please join me in thanking them for all their hard work and for the sacrifice of their spare time and energy! --martyb.]

Biden becomes first president to issue proclamation marking Indigenous Peoples' Day:

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation commemorating Indigenous Peoples' Day on Friday, becoming the first US president to do so, the White House said.

"The contributions that Indigenous peoples have made throughout history — in public service, entrepreneurship, scholarship, the arts, and countless other fields — are integral to our Nation, our culture, and our society," Biden wrote in the proclamation Friday. "Today, we acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by Native peoples to this country — and recognize their many ongoing contributions to our Nation."

Biden also marked a change of course from previous administrations in his proclamation marking Columbus Day, which honors the explorer Christopher Columbus. In that proclamation, the President acknowledged the death and destruction wrought on native communities after Columbus journeyed to North America in the late 1500s, ushering in an age of European exploration of the Western Hemisphere.

"Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities. It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them," Biden wrote.

More than 100 cities -- including Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco -- and a number of states -- including Minnesota, Alaska, Vermont and Oregon -- have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, choosing instead to recognize the native populations that were displaced and decimated after Columbus and other European explorers reached the continent. Berkeley, California, was the first city to adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day, in 1992.

Also at Al Jazeera.


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  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Monday October 11 2021, @09:34PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Monday October 11 2021, @09:34PM (#1186293)

    I've never heard of a culture that hates itself as much as Americans. Everything resulting in what they have -> out the window with it. It's shit. It needs to be thrown away.
    I've never heard of such a culture ....... so I wonder what's going to happen to it.

    You remind me of my cousin, when I would suggest that we as a people need to be using less resources. He would rant that "I wanted us to go back to living in caves!". The only ones with your attitude are those who believe that any suggestion we aren't living sustainably, and that we haven't behaved the best way possible while getting where we are, are attacking your entire way of life. If we are, then you seriously need to reexamine the way you live. Acknowledging past mistakes is not "throwing every thing away". Behaving better (by this I mean treating them as we would want to be treated) towards marginalized groups is a step forwards, but taking that step seems to enrage many who perceive that they have benefited (whether they really have or not) from such mistreatment. We can't roll back the clock and we can't fix past mistakes, but by acknowledging we have made mistakes maybe we can prevent ourselves from making them again.

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