TAKING TO THE STREET ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY

FOR RELEASE

For further information: http://indigenouspeoplesday.com/

(Exclusively released to Native outlets)

Denver—Taking to the street in downtown Denver to confront the annual Columbus Day parade may be inevitable because of the insult to Native residents and visitors inherent in the highly visible, city-sanctioned tribute to Columbus, stated a planner of a concurrent Native event.

The clash would occur on October 6, when Indigenous Peoples Day 2007 (IPD07) coincides with the 100th celebration of Columbus Day in Colorado, the first state to observe the holiday named for an acknowledged slave-trader and murderer, said Nate Chaney, an IDP07 planner.

“This parade celebrates the murder of our ancestors—ancestors of those who are here for Indigenous Peoples Day and of Native people who are residents of Denver,” he said. “We can’t, in good conscience, fail to object to this, particularly on the day when we honor our elders and our communities.”

Indigenous Peoples Day will be a celebration in music and oratory of the Native traditions, achievements, and complex cultures that exist today in the Western Hemisphere, despite the Columbian holocaust directed at Indian people and the theft of our land, he said.

Read on...