East Lansing City Council approved a resolution recognizing the celebration of Indigenous People's Day on the second Monday of October each year.
Originally the second Monday of October was recognized as Columbus Day. The East Lansing Human Relations Commission recommended to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day to honor and respect diversity.
“With the approval of this resolution, we are joining communities across the U.S. that are publicly recognizing and honoring the past and current contributions of Indigenous people in our country,” said East Lansing Human Resources Director and Human Relations Commission Staff Resource Shelli Neumann.
“Indigenous people have historically struggled for visibility and have continued to do so in the present day,” said East Lansing Human Relations Commission Member Julia Christensen. “It seemed fitting that the date used to celebrate Columbus Day should instead be used to elevate the voices, history and culture of Indigenous populations in our country.”
