Today is Indigenous Peoples Day.
The Geneva Conference of 1977 was a watershed moment for Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It was the very first UN conference with Indigenous delegates, the first direct entry of Native peoples into international affairs, the first time that Native peoples were able to speak for themselves at the UN.
It was also the first declaration of Indigenous Peoples Day. A counter-celebration to Christopher Columbus Day, which celebrates colonization and a fake “discovery” of lands of the Americas.
ipdpowwow.org/geneva-conference
Your feeds, today, will show you mainstream content. But I got the good stuff. Three elements of indigenous culture that you probably won’t see. (The third focuses on Indigenous women in Bolivia. Relevant because it honors the shared origin of the holiday.)
But we can’t celebrate this day without retrospection. So I have that for you as well.
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