Harlem celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day Monday

Harlem City Council recently passed a resolution to change the federal holiday Columbus Day, Oct. 14, to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, joining other cities in Montana, such as Bozeman, Missoula and Helena, and some U.S. states in recognizing this change in focus for this federal holiday.

“I felt it was an appropriate, long overdue, change that needed to be made,” Harlem City Council member Eva English, who proposed the resolution, said. “It is an effort to acknowledge who has had more of an impact, historically, currently and into the future, on the Harlem community. Not to change the past but to move positively forward.”

Harlem, which is located just outside of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, passed the resolution Sept. 9, It was proposed by English during the council’s August meeting. 

English said she originally decided to propose the change after a Native American co-worker told her about an old photo taken in Harlem of themselves and a friend when they were young. 

“They were standing in front of a sign that said, ‘No Indians or Dogs Allowed,’” English said. “My co-worker said, ‘We didn’t even know it was wrong.’” 

The “No Indians or Dogs Allowed” sign hung in a number of different locations in Montana, with a number of bars, restaurants and movie theaters hanging the signs in their establishments.

English said that she has received both positive and negative feedback about the change.

“There are many who feel it was a positive step to take, while others feel it is taking away a long-celebrated tradition,” she said. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and each should be respected.”

She added that she stands by her choice.

She said she does not know what the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day will look like in Harlem, the choice being up to the community.

“This step has been taken,” she said. “We can see what it will become … that will be for others to decide.”

Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Community Council President Andy Werk Jr. said he is in support of Harlem making the choice to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“The Harlem City Council declaring Indigenous Peoples’ Day, joining 13 states and 142 U.S. cities and towns, is symbolic in the unification of non-reservation and reservation communities,” he said. “Fort Belknap and Harlem have come together in times of need, and this action on their part will continue to strengthen our relationship.”

Columbus Day recognizes Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, whose 1492 voyage spurred European colonization of the Americas. A number of Native Americans and non-Native people across the country say celebrating Columbus ignores the atrocities and violence inflicted on Native American’s ancestors.

In the 2019 legislative session in the state of Montana, state Rep. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, sponsored House Bill 219, which was aimed to establish Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a recognized holiday across the state. The bill was passed through the House but died in the Senate. The bill was voted down and tabled by the State Administration Committee in April. 

Two amendments had been proposed for the bill. One was to drop Columbus Day altogether and replaced it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day the Friday after Thanksgiving and the other would have kept Columbus Day and added Indigenous Peoples’ Day the Friday after Thanksgiving as an additional state holiday. But the bill remained tabled and later died in the Senate committee.