Indigenous Peoples' Day: The importance for Wisconsin locals
WISCONSIN (CBS 58) --This Monday marks the fourth year in a row that Wisconsin has celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Columbus Day was declared a federal holiday back in 1934, and it wasn't until last year that President Joe Biden officially recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day. Wisconsin however, was one of the first states to do so before it was federally recognized. Governor Tony Evers signed an executive order back in 2019, proclaiming the second Monday in October as the official holiday.
Gov. Evers made an appearance at the Milwaukee Public Museum's Native American exhibit to honor their legacy.
“Our history as a state depends upon us understanding that history,” Evers said.
Although American history tells us that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the Americas, Indigenous people already inhabited the Caribbean, North America and South America.
"At the same time hearing from, you know, our Ho-Chunk elders, and our parents be like, you know, 'that's just not true, correct? This is not the real story,'" said Casey Brown of Ho-Chunk Nation.
Brown is the public relations officer at Ho-Chunk Nation -- one of the 11 federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin that dates back to the Ice Age.
He said some schools fail to mention Columbus left behind a brutal legacy of slavery, exploitation and colonization.
"The colonizing forces saying, 'well, what are we supposed to do with these people?' Because it was first 'well, let's work with them,' then it's 'well, let's try to move them,' and then when that didn't work out, it was 'well, let's change them and let's assimilate them,'" said Brown.
Which is why today we honor the past, present and future of America's first nations.
"That is something that I know a lot of folks said they'd never thought they would see in their lifetime," he said.
Reclaiming a part of their history is what they say Indigenous Peoples' Day is all about.
Check out more about Native American history and culture at the Native American Exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum.