Looking for ways to mark Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day on October 10? The UUA’s Multicultural Growth and Witness Staff Group has 10. They include the following:

• Find out whose land your congregation’s building was built on.

• Lobby your public officials to rename Columbus Day. South Dakota calls it “Native Americans Day.” Dane County, Wisconsin, calls it “Indigenous Peoples Day.” So do the cities of Berkeley, Sebastopol, and Santa Cruz, California.

• Connect with nearby Native communities

• Engage with “Immigration as a Moral Issue,” the 2010–2014 Congregational Study/Action Issue.

The whole list is here. There is also a section on Justice for Native Peoples about issues that face them and how to connect with them.

Alex Kapitan, Congregational Justice administrator, said his office is making a special effort this year to engage congregations with this annual day. “We want to be more intentional about encouraging congregations to celebrate this holiday and to make it more of a solid part of the liturgical calendar.”

He added, “Indigenous Peoples Day reimagines Columbus Day and changes a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal historical truths about the genocide and oppression of indigenous peoples in the Americas, to organize against current injustices, and to celebrate indigenous resistance.”

About the Author

Don Skinner

Don Skinner is editor of InterConnections and a member of the Shawnee Mission UU Church in Lenexa, Kansas.

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