Observing and commemorating cultural perspectives on Indigenous Peoples Day

Today is Indigenous Peoples Day, and the Kansas State University community is encouraged to learn about the various Indigenous peoples, histories and perspectives that are valuable components of the university's heritage and campus culture.

The annual recognition has its origins at a United Nations-sponsored conference in 1977, when Indigenous leaders from around the world gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to develop a day to celebrate and commemorate the various cultures and histories of Indigenous peoples across the Americas.

In the decades since, the cultural celebration has grown, and various communities in North and South America celebrate their Indigenous peoples on or around Oct. 12 — the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' contact with the Lucayan people in the Caribbean. This represented the beginning of the sustained connection between the European Old World and the many extensive peoples and civilizations of the Americas.

Before European colonization, the territory that is now the U.S. was inhabited by hundreds of distinct Indigenous American tribes and nations, each with its own language, history, culture and societal structure.

Many of those cultures have been lost to history as tribal affiliations shifted, populations dwindled and war and disease took their toll, underscoring the need to learn, preserve and commemorate those that have survived.

Historically, Kansas is the ancestral homes of many Native nations, including the Osage, Pawnee and Kanza, or Kaw people — the namesake of the state.

Kansas is currently home to four federally recognized tribal nations: the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska.

Through cultural celebrations like Indigenous Peoples Day, the university offers the campus community the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of history, cultures and perspectives not previously encountered.

A virtual conference, sponsored by K-State's Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance, is providing additional opportunities to learn about Indigenous perspectives. At 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, the conference will host an in-person screening of "We Fought Termination," a play by Prairie Band Potawatomi playwright Jackie Mitchell, at the Purple Masque Theater.

The play features the story of Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairwoman Minnie Evans, a fierce advocate who testified and helped preserve her nation's status as a distinct, federally recognized political entity. K-State's screening will be the first exhibition of the play outside of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Learn more at the Indigenous Peoples Day conference page.