Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day! Support Workers World

Boston’s proclamation on Oct. 6, 2021, that the second Monday of October every year would be Indigenous Peoples Day “in lieu of” Columbus Day was a victory for Native peoples, since the U.S. settler-colonial project, which resulted in genocide and the theft and devastation of their lands and cultures, began and continued in what is now Massachusetts.

These pronouncements came about due to the strong, unified struggles by Indigenous peoples and their allies, notably at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the courageous, militant fight that shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline and more.

The movement for recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day began in the 1970s. A delegation of Native nations to the U.N.-sponsored International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, held in Geneva in 1977, first proposed replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day; their resolution passed.

Then, in July 1990, representatives from 120 Indigenous nations from throughout the Americas met in Quito, Ecuador, at the First Continental Conference on “500 Years of Indian Resistance.” They unanimously passed a resolution to transform Columbus Day in 1992 “into an occasion to strengthen our process of continental unity and struggle towards our liberation.”

In 1992, Berkeley, California, became the first U.S. city to adopt Indigenous Peoples Day. Since then, 17 states, Washington, D.C., and over 130 cities have dumped the Columbus Day holiday honoring the racist, genocidal conqueror and recognized Indigenous peoples, their history and cultures on that day.

Workers World has continually supported the righteous struggles of Native peoples on the streets and in our newspaper. WW joins Indigenous communities to demand: Free political prisoner, Leonard Peltier!  Sink Columbus Day! Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in every city, town and state! Land back! 

Join the WW Supporter Program 

This pro-worker, pro-socialist newspaper depends on our readers’ backing. The WW Supporter Program was launched 47 years ago to help print and mail this socialist newspaper and for 30 years has supported workers.org, where new articles are posted daily and the weekly paper’s PDF is displayed.

Workers.org contains news and analyses of global and U.S. struggles, bulletins from national liberation movements and articles translated by our staff. Our writer-organizers report on anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggles and help build people’s movements against racism and war – and for the rights of Black, Latiné, Indigenous, Asian and Arab peoples, women, gender-oppressed people, workers, migrants, LGBTQIA2S+ and disabled individuals. This website is a resource for political activists. 

While WW’s staff is voluntary, the 12 issues printed yearly and the website incur expenses. Although many online publications require payments to read their articles, WW does not. Our articles are free to all readers.  

Can you donate $50, $100 or $200 a year? Contributing $50 or more will entitle you to receive 12 print issues a year, email links to articles posted online, and, upon request, a copy of the book “What Road to Socialism?”  

Your donations help get class truth to more readers — and are appreciated. Write monthly or annual checks to Workers World. Include your name, address and email; write “Supporter Program” on the memo line. Mail to Workers World at 121 West 27th St., Suite 404, New York, NY 10001.