Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration to be held at BHS Commons

Bainbridge Island’s 2018 Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration will be held in the Bainbridge High School Commons from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8.

The even is free and open to the public.

An official city and state holiday in many localities around the country, Indigenous Peoples’ Day reportedly began as a counter-celebration held on the same day as the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day, which honors European explorer Christopher Columbus.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is intended to celebrate Native Americans and commemorate their shared history and culture.

From Wikipedia: “The holiday was first changed in South Dakota where in 1989 Lynn Hart working with Governor [George S.] Mickelson put in place a resolution for the [second] Monday of October as Native American day, as the beginning of the year of reconciliation in 1990. It was instituted in Berkeley, California in 1992, coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. It later spread to Santa Cruz, California in 1994, and then to various other cities and states beginning in the mid-to-late 2010s.”

Highlights of the BHS celebration will include sacred water drummers, singers, and a four-person panel — Chelsea Jones, Calvin Rapada, Cassidy Jackson and Dennis Sutter — who will share their experiences from growing up indigenous and their thoughts on the most critical issues facing native people in America today.