L.A. Celebrates Its First Indigenous People’s Day

Last year, the Los Angeles city council voted to eliminate Columbus Day as an official city holiday due to the negative racial connotations Christopher Columbus carries. In lieu, a new holiday named Indigenous Peoples Day was designed to honor the Native Americans that were here before Columbus made landfall. The very first public celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day is being celebrated today in LA.

The city will be celebrating the holiday with a variety of activities open to the public. These include a sunrise ceremony, a 5K run, a parade of nations, a Native American powwow, panel sessions, and a fashion show.

The day will conclude with a concert at Grand Park with performances by The Black-Eyed Peas and Native American rock group Redbone. Councilman Mitch O’Farrell says that the celebration of this event is an important step to “eliminate the false narrative that Christopher Columbus discovered America. ”