(Radio Iowa) – Today (Monday), is Indigenous Peoples’ Day and some activists in Iowa’s Native American community want the holiday to permanently replace Columbus Day on the calendar. Trisha Rivers, Siouxland project director of the Great Plains Action Society, calls Columbus Day problematic, and she recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead on the second Monday in October. Rivers says, “The importance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day is that we still are here, after all of the atrocities that we have survived through as a people.”

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was recognized by Iowa’s governor five years ago, however, neither it nor Columbus Day are official state holidays. Rivers, who is based in Sioux City, is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She says the annual celebration of Columbus Day perpetuates a false narrative. “That basically was the beginning of our genocide, the Indian boarding school era, and everything that has followed from that, that still impacts us as Indigenous peoples today.”

The Great Plains Action Society is a nonprofit group that focuses on social justice and political engagement. Members organized a celebration for Indigenous People’s Day today in Iowa City. The Native American Student Association at the University of Iowa plans a rally on campus as well.

(Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)