Salisbury- The City of Salisbury and City Administrator Julia Glanz are proud to recognize today, Monday, October 12th, as Indigenous People’s Day in Salisbury. The decision was made in order to honor those who had their lands and homes stolen from them and to draw attention to the beautiful and extensive history of the indigenous and native peoples of our region, and our whole country.
Indigenous People’s Day is more than an alternative to Columbus Day, a nationwide celebration of the man who supposedly first discovered America. It’s an opportunity to learn more about the history of the place we call home and the experiences of those who inhabited it before us. In fact, Christopher Columbus never set foot on the continent we know today as North America, and even if he had, Leif Erikson would have beat him to it roughly 500 years prior.
Here on Delmarva, the Choptank, the Nanticoke, the Annamessex and the Manokin were proud women and men who lived in harmony with the land they called home. These tribes were forced from their established homes and land only to have their language appropriated for the names of local cities and towns, counties, roads and waterways.
“While we can’t undo injustices of the past, we can and must begin to make sure that our reverence is well-placed, and that our days of reflection and celebration are given to those who deserve the honor,” shared City Administrator Julia Glanz. “We must affirm that we will no longer celebrate slave owners, conquerors, or the proponents and enablers of genocide.”
Thank you to the Edward H. Nabb Research Center at Salisbury University for their assistance on this project. We encourage the public to explore our region’s history via the Nabb Center’s vast and unique archives. While they are currently closed to the public, their online document and photo archives are more than enough to start your journey through Salisbury and the Greater Delmarva Region’s history. Learn more at https://www.salisbury.edu/libraries/nabb/.
The City would also like to thank the Salisbury Human Rights Advisory Committee for their recommendation to designate today as Indigenous People’s Day.
At tonight’s City Council meeting, City Administrator Glanz will read a proclamation, making today’s Indigenous People’s Day designation official. The 6:00 pm meeting can be viewed live via PAC14’s livestream, available on their website http://www.pac14.org/. Members of the public can also attend the council meeting via Zoom, the link for which is www.us02web.zoom.us/j/5362772908
Image courtesy of the Nabb Center at SU
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