Motivation Mondays: Beyond Columbus Day. Honoring Indigenous Resilience
“The stories of our Indigenous people have shaped the very foundational fabric of our modern day. And so much of that is just not known, not felt, not acknowledged.” Lily Gladstone
Motivation Mondays: Beyond Columbus Day. Honoring Indigenous Resilience
Joy Harjo in Conversation with Layli Long Soldier: Living Nations, Living Words
Motivation Mondays: Beyond Columbus Day. Honoring Indigenous Resilience. For decades, we’ve celebrated Columbus Day alone with nary a mention of our true indigenous people, Native Americans, whose land we all live on. It has taken 50 years to reach this moment, and I invite you to join me, join so many of us, in celebrating this important milestone. Today we honor both Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day. While the jury might still be out on whether Christopher Columbus discovered America, what is unequivocal is the celebration of our Indigenous people. Welcome to a space for reflection, remembrance, and reclamation. What are your thoughts on this matter? What did you learn growing up?
On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I have decided to look beyond the narrow horizons of incomplete historical narratives and instead lean into the rich stories and lives of the First Peoples who have always managed this land. For further reflection, I uploaded an insightful video conversation, “Joy Harjo: Living Nations, Living Words,” above, featuring the brilliant voices of Joy Harjo and Layli Long Soldier as they discuss the legacy, rhythm, and persistence of Native poetry through the powerful lens of contemporary Indigenous literature and a deep grassroots history that spans over half a century. Let’s pause to listen to the stories shared and celebrate the vibrant cultures shaping our collective future. Below, I have shared three moving poems that remind us why this reclamation matters.
As I pause to look at the world around me with deeper connection and gratitude, I am acutely aware that I am not looking back through a single lens of history; I’m honoring the enduring, living rhythm of the First Peoples who have always owned this land. Enjoy the beautiful words of Mvskoke Nation poet Joy Harjo as she reminds us to remember:
“Remember” by Joy Harjo, member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation and the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate via poets.org
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the stars’ stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
“Remember.” Copyright © 1983 by Joy Harjo from She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
“Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning.” Joy Harjo
Motivation Mondays: Beyond Columbus Day. Honoring Indigenous Resilience
Understanding the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and its roots can help us fully appreciate the power of the modern Indigenous voices we celebrate today. Reclaiming a cultural perspective isn’t a fleeting trend; it is a hard-fought narrative fifty years in the making: In 1977, an international delegation of Indigenous nations proposed the idea at a United Nations conference in Geneva to address discrimination across the Americas. This initial spark led to years of discussion, denial, and set-asides. Some folks wanted to maintain the Columbus narrative to the exclusion of Native American voices, even though historical records showed something quite different.
By 1992, Berkeley, California, became the first U.S. city to officially implement the holiday. They intentionally timed the change for October 12, 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival, to reclaim the date and focus on survival, resilience, and the continued presence of Indigenous people.
After decades of steady growth at the municipal and state levels, the movement gained national momentum on October 8, 2021, when President Joseph Biden made the first-ever presidential proclamation officially recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day to move beyond old, incomplete histories and recognize the rich, living presence of Native cultures. We are not just looking at the past; we are celebrating the people who are right here, shaping our collective future. The words in the poem below by Rainy Dawn Ortiz speak so beautifully to this truth:
More Than Something Else” by Rainy Dawn Ortiz 1973–2023 via poets.org
Something Else.
Some one else
Some where else
That place is here,
In my home,
We are here.
I am brown,
Brown hair,
Brown eyes,
Like cookies Feather tells me, and I like to think it’s perfectly
cooked Pueblo cookies.
My kids are something else,
9 different shades of brown,
All beautiful.
My grandkids are something else,
4 brown eyes, 2 blue eyes,
All Native,
Definitely something else, as I watch them be rowdy, be loving,
be here in this world.
We are here
On this earth
In this time and place
In our homes,
On our lands,
In the cities,
With our families, laughing loudly, cooking together, protecting
each other.
We are something else.
With our songs
Our dances.
We pray with cornmeal,
Eagle feathers,
Medicine bundles,
Burn some sage, make sure to acknowledge the four directions,
as the sun comes up.
We are the something else,
Who were here,
To greet Christopher Columbus
We were born from
This earth,
Crawled out of the center,
Of our mother’s womb; we are important; we are strong.
We are something else,
We are Pueblo people, Plains people, Forest People, Desert
people, Nomadic people, Cliff dwellers, Ocean fishers, Lake and
river fishers, hunters, medicine collectors, horse riders, artists,
speakers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, we are human beings.
We are something else,
We are Native People,
Indigenous to this land.
We are a proud,
Something else.
Copyright © 2020 by Rainy Dawn Ortiz. Originally published with the Shelter in Poems initiative on poets.org
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“The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.” Wilma Mankiller
Motivation Mondays: Beyond Columbus Day. Honoring Indigenous Resilience
While we’ve made much progress, we still have a few hurdles to cross because Indigenous Peoples Day is not yet a federal holiday. In a statement addressing the oversight, in 2023, California Congresswoman Norma Torres said that “Our country has long failed to recognize and acknowledge its dark history of erasure and harm brought upon the first inhabitants of the Americas … By designating Indigenous Peoples’ Day a federal holiday, we take a small but important step toward recognizing the injustices in our nation’s history and uplifting the vibrant traditions, history, and culture of all Indigenous communities—an integral part of the cultural fabric of the United States… ” My wish is that it will become a Federal Holiday so we can all honor the true natives of this great country.
Native American culture and history are inextricably tied to mainstream American culture, and the vibrant poetic voices shared above and below are part of that larger trajectory, offering living reminders of connection, resistance, and grace. The long journey to healing, repressed memory, and our collective obligations to history is rarely linear. This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I reflect on the choices we make as we carry the past into our shared future. As Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier brilliantly illustrates in her interactive, diamond-shaped visual poem below, “Obligations 2,” the paths we choose matter deeply. If the diamond-shaped visual confuses you, here are the words of her Poem.:
As we embrace, resist the future, the present, the past
we work we struggle we begin we fail
to understand to find to unbraid to accept to question
the grief the grief the grief the grief
we shift we wield we bury into light as ash across our faces
Obligations 2 By Layli Long Soldier via Poetry Foundation
Copyright Credit: Layli Long Soldier, “Obligations 2” from New Poets of Native Nations. Copyright © 2018 by Layli Long Soldier. Reprinted by permission of Layli Long Soldier
Positive Motivation Tip: When we celebrate the richness of all cultures, we celebrate our humanity and ourselves.
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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos via Pixabay; Horizon; Stock Adobe Free; Stewarded Land;
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
