Title
Staff Report for a City of San Leandro City Council Resolution to Declare the Second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in Lieu of Columbus Day
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Consistent with the policy prioritization exercise outcomes that were identified by the City Council as part of its Saturday, February 6, 2021 annual planning session, staff presents for the City Council's consideration the attached draft City Council Resolution. If adopted, it would declare the second Monday of October each year as Indigenous Peoples' Day in lieu of Columbus Day in San Leandro.
BACKGROUND & ANALYSIS
Columbus Day was established by order of President Roosevelt in 1937 and is officially recognized by some cities and states around the country on the second Monday of October. However, critics of this holiday note that Columbus Day does not provide an opportunity for the public to reflect on the colonization of North America by Europeans that led to the suppression, forced assimilation, and death of many indigenous peoples whose lifestyles and culture previously flourished in the Americas for thousands of years. According to available online sources, the official designation of Indigenous Peoples' Day was first proposed in 1977 by a delegation of Native Nations to the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas. Here in California, the Governor first proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2019, as a means of celebrating the indigenous peoples who call California home and who have survived and thrived in the face of the significant challenges that shaped California's past, present, and future.
In recent years, California has also taken action to convey ancestral lands back to tribes for preservation of cultural resources, reassessed geographic place names, statues, and monuments to better reflect our state's values, and established a Truth and Healing Council to embark upon the journey of...
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