Phoenix designates Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official city holiday

By Shondiin Silversmith

AZMirror

PHOENIX — For the past seven years, the

City of Phoenix has recognized Indigenous

Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day

every second Monday of October, but it

was never an official city holiday.

But now that’s changed. With a vote

of 7-1, the Phoenix City Council made it

official, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day has

been designated a city holiday.

“This is really exciting,” said Democrat

Councilwoman Laura Pastor, of District 4,

during a city council meeting on April 19.

Pastor said she’s been working with

Indigenous communities to declare this

resolution and to introduce one involving

land acknowledgment, which is the

acknowledgment that the city rests on the

ancestral homelands of Indigenous people.

The Phoenix City Council on April

19 approved the resolution to declare the

second Monday in October of each year

as a designated city holiday known as

Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“This is an exciting item that has been

many years in the making,” Phoenix

Mayor Katie Gallego said during the

council meeting. She talked about how

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was originally

only recognized as a day, but this vote

makes it a full city holiday.

“Phoenix is proud to recognize the roots

on which our city was founded,” Gallego

tweeted after the resolution passed.

During the council meeting, only one city

council member questioned the resolution:

Republican Councilman Jim Waring, of

District 2.

Waring voiced his concern about the cost

of the city holiday and questioned exactly

how much it would be for the city to create

an additional holiday.

Assistant City Manager Lori Bays

answered his question, saying that an

additional city holiday would cost the

city approximately $1.5 million from the

general fund and approximately $2 million

from all funds.

Waring questioned whether the city

planned to take away an additional holiday

because it would be revenue neutral if one

holiday was swapped for another.

Bays said no other city holiday would be

taken away. If so, that decision would be up

to the Phoenix City Council to make in the

future, because the resolution proposal was

to add Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a holiday

without removing any other holiday.

By declaring Indigenous Peoples Day

a city holiday, Waring said the city was

asking taxpayers not to have the city open

for another day and to pay $2 million for

the privilege.

The resolution passed 7-1, and Waring

was the only one to vote against it.

This means that Phoenix City Offices

will be closed, and it will be a paid holiday

for full-time city employees. It will be added

to the 12 other recognized city holidays.

The State of Arizona does not recognize

Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official

holiday. In the past, state officials have

introduced resolutions to officially

recognize the day across Arizona, but

those have never passed through the

legislature.

When Laura Medina heard the City

of Phoenix will officially recognize

Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a city holiday,

she commended the decision by saying it

was “amazing and awesome.”

“It’s great that there are these movements

going on,” Medina said.

Medina is an organizer with the nonprofit Matriarch Ways, which was originally

called Indigenous Peoples Arizona. The

group has been hosting celebrations of

Indigenous Peoples Day since 2015.

But, Medina wondered if the city holiday

will go beyond being performative. Medina

said she can’t help but ask if this is really

abolishing Columbus Day.

“Is that really abolishing the idea of what

this individual represented,” Medina asked,

not only to colonizers but to American

history and the Indigenous people who have

been hurt by colonization.

“I do know that there is a lot that needs

to happen,” Medina said, and these types

of declarations and recognitions are always

with the best intentions for Indigenous

communities.

She is hopeful that the City of Phoenix’s

move to make Indigenous Peoples’ Day an

official city holiday will spread and that

people will get the day off to reflect on the

land that they live on.

Medina hopes that people don’t treat

the day as if it’s just another vacation

day but rather use it as an opportunity to

connect and acknowledge the Indigenous

communities within their community and

understand that they are living on stolen

land.

“Pay respect to the original people who

call this place home,” Medina said, and

the best way to do that is by being in the

community.

She hopes people take the time to

understand the struggles that Indigenous

communities are actively facing, from the

militarization of the border to the complete

disrespect and destruction of their sacred

sites.

Matriarch Ways hosts an Indigenous

Peoples’ Day celebration every October

and other workshops or events geared

toward Indigenous communities. For more

information about their work, visit their

website.