Run to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day
photo: @nativein_la
Most school children in the United States are taught that October 12 commemorates the day that Christopher Columbus discovered “our land.” The relatives of the people who lived on this land prior to 1492 are reminding us that celebrating this moment is in actuality synonymous with celebrating genocide, oppression, and racism.
Thankfully, there are strong Indigenous voices helping to lift the veil on this flawed narrative of discovery and many states have already taken the leap to officially celebrate this day as Indigenous Peoples Day instead. According to the ACLU, many states, including Wisconsin, Arizona, and Maine have already officially replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day and awareness and acceptance of this new holiday seem to be growing.
One way to celebrate the United States’s 574 federally recognized Sovereign Nations and their people and ancestors is to learn. There are remarkable Indigenous voices raising awareness for the suffering of their ancestors, for the systemic racism they are experiencing today, and what we can do collectively to change things. The social media accounts of Rebecca Nagle, Corinne Rice, Debbie Reece, Jordan Marie Daniel, Tribal Trust, and Cultural Survival are a few places you may want to begin your journey. You can also text (907) 312-5085 and find out whose land you are resting upon through Native Land.
Another way to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in 2020 is to run or walk.
The Indigenous Peoples Day Virtual 5K, 10K, Half Marathon is a virtual race benefitting organizations that support Indigenous people. Each race length donates to a different cause. This virtual race can be completed any time between October 10 and October 18, 2020.
If you run / walk the 5K your race fee of $15 will go towards Sovereign Bodies Institute an organization that researches how Indigenous nations and communities are impacted by gender and sexual violence, and how they may continue to work towards healing and freedom from such violence.
If you run / walk the 10K, your race fee of $25 will go towards Wings of America, an organization that uses sport to empower American Indian youth.
If you run / walk the Half Marathon, your race fee of $35 will go towards Rising Hearts, an Indigenous led grassroots group devoted to elevating Indigenous voices and promoting intersectional collaborative efforts across all movements in the fight for racial, social, climate, and economic justice. These funds will support Rising Hearts’s work with Mitakuye Oyasin (Covid Relief Program), Running with Purpose film, and community organizing events such as upcoming Native American Heritage Month.
The Indigenous Peoples Day Virtual 5K, 10K, Half Marathon was created by Rising Hearts, which was founded by Jordan Marie Daniel, a citizen of the Kul Wicasa Oyate who is a fierce advocate for Indigenous communities. Notably, Jordan uses her running platform to raise awareness for Indigenous people. In 2019, she ran the Boston Marathon in honor of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. If you aren’t aware of this issue, you might be astounded to learn that in 2016 there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls and only 116 of these cases were logged by the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database (source).
According to Jordan, running can be a way to heal and celebrate: "Running is medicine. Running is tradition. Running is healing. Running is prayer. Running is community. Indigenous people are known for running – for the messages they carry – for the prayers they carry – for the tradition it brings. For Indigenous Peoples Day, we run together as relatives, as a community, to recognize and celebrate Indigenous people!”
Sign up for the The Indigenous Peoples Day Virtual 5K, 10K, Half Marathon here. Runners / walkers are encouraged to share their photos to help further amplify Indigenous voices.
