Gallup activists: Changing holiday an ‘important step’
Navajo Times | Ravonelle Yazzie Hermayne Smith and Kyon Benally hold a banner in front of a Chief Manuelito statue in Gallup during an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration Monday.
GALLUP
Local activist Mervyn Tilden was standing alone for the first five years of the annual demonstration he created for Indigenous Peoples Day.
“It’s good to see this turnout after all this length of time,” Tilden said of the crowd of about 30 that showed up Monday. This year will mark the ninth year of the Indigenous Peoples Day demonstration in front of the Gallup Cultural Center and the second year that Gallup has recognized the new holiday.
In 2016, Tilden went before the Gallup City Council to ask them to pass a resolution that would establish Indigenous Peoples Day in lieu of Columbus Day. It passed and this year the city reaffirmed its support for Indigenous Peoples Day through a proclamation on Sept. 26. “It was real tough,” Tilden said, “especially going in front of the city council last year and getting the resolution passed.”
On Monday, the city didn’t have the day off, said Al Abeita, the city clerk. However, county, state and federal entities were closed in observance of Columbus Day.
The Navajo Nation hasn’t recognized the holiday since the ’90s. The Navajo Nation Council removed it as a holiday and instead created Navajo Nation Family Day that is celebrated on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.
This year Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez signed a proclamation that declared the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day, according to a press release.
To read the full article, pick up your copy of the Navajo Times at your nearest newsstand Thursday mornings!
Are you a digital subscriber? Read the most recent three weeks of stories by logging in to your online account.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow