Minneapolis Recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day October 12

Photo Credit: YouTube / City of Minneapolis / Indigenous Peoples Day speakers

(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) – The Minneapolis City Council recognized Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring the Dakota, Ojibwe, and other Native Nations at the heart of Minnesota. 

Indigenous Peoples Day is on the same date as Columbus Day, October 12. It’s a time to reflect on history, promote truth-telling, recognize the ongoing struggles of Native nations, and celebrate tribal cultures and achievements. 

The Council recognized that Minneapolis was built on Dakota lands and highlighted the significant urban population of indigenous people. This includes Little Earth, a Minneapolis community with almost 1k residents, representing 38 tribal affiliations.

Despite strong support, Indigenous Peoples Day is not a federally recognized holiday like Columbus Day. Former President Joe Biden issued a dual proclamation in 2021 celebrating both as holidays, but President Donald Trump reversed the proclamation in 2025. 

In his own 2025 proclamation, Trump called Columbus a hero and asserted that any information otherwise is an attempt to slander a ‘true American hero.’ In part, the proclamation read: 

“... his discovery opened the vast frontier and untold splendors of the New World to Europe.  He later ventured onward to Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean — exploring their coasts and engaging with their people.”

Photo Credit: White House / Presidential Actions / Columbus Day Proclamation 2025

While Columbus did land in the New World and encounter natives, his own journals paint a different picture of his ‘engagement’ with indigenous peoples during his travels. In one, he wrote about the natives he encountered in the New World and how he seized and enslaved six of them because he felt they would make good servants. 

Historical documentation supporting his mistreatment of natives in lands he discovered is plentiful, and in recent years, keeping Columbus Day as a federal holiday has been questioned. Many argue that because he was never American, he should only be part of U.S. history like the British. 

Photo Credit: YouTube / City of Minneapolis / Rachel Thunder and Jason Chavez

Indigenous Protector Movement CEO Rachel Dion Thunder thanked the Council for recognizing the Indigenous community and its contributions to the City of Minneapolis. Thunder then gave an impassioned speech about the suffering and years of mistreatment of indigenous peoples throughout the history of America. 

She listed the various campaigns led by colonizers like Columbus, including relocation acts, boarding schools, diseases, genocide, and more.

Thunder finished by saying that, despite efforts to destroy indigenous nations and culture, “We are still here. We are still strong. We are still fighting. And above the fighting, we still love our communities, neighbors, children, and land. Those are the reasons. Love is the reason we are going to continue fighting and standing up, and doing the right thing.”*

Another indigenous speaker from the Movement then invited everyone to Minneapolis’s Indigenous Peoples Day ceremony on October 12, beginning at sunrise on the shores of Bed Makoska, and a powwow at 4 p.m. that same day in the Minneapolis American Indian Center. 

To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at kristin.h@lead4earth.org.

*Quote has been edited for repetition and clarity without removing original context. The full unedited quote is available in the meeting transcript.