Members of the university community are marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 10 and Indigenous Peoples’ Month throughout November. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to honor the native peoples of the Americas and to reflect on their rich and continuing cultural heritage.

Several events are scheduled this year to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day and November’s Indigenous Peoples’ Month. November events include Indigenous Fall Feast, a Creative Writing Workshop, and Underground Indigenous Arts Night. You can find more details as they are added on the Native American Cultural Center’s calendar of upcoming events and on the NAAC Instagram account at @YaleNatives.

I invite all members of the Yale community to celebrate and reflect on Monday and again in November, and to recognize the vibrant history, diverse cultures, and meaningful contributions of the indigenous peoples of our community and our country. We especially honor the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and the Quinnipiac nations and other Algonquian-speaking peoples for stewarding through generations the lands and waterways of what is now the state of Connecticut. 

I also want to acknowledge that members of the Yale community have many backgrounds, interests, and identities, and they may mark and celebrate October 10 in different ways—as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Columbus Day, and Italian Heritage Day—even as classes, research, and work on campus continue. 

For all of us, the commemorations can prompt reflection on the complicated history of the United States and our unfinished journey toward “liberty and justice for all.”

Sincerely,

Kimberly M. Goff-Crews

Secretary and Vice President for University Life