Legislators Propose Bill To Recognize Indigenous Peoples Day

Roughly 200 students from Indian Community School of Milwaukee filled the state Capitol on Tuesday to show their support for legislation that would rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.

The bill’s lead author Rep. David Bowen, D-Milwaukee, said the legislation has bipartisan support in the state Assembly, but they are still hoping for a Republican senator to co-sponsor the Senate bill.

“The great thing about this bill is that it does not have any additional funding or cost to it,” Bowen said. “So it is levy neutral, and we expect for it to be taken very seriously when fourth and fifth graders knock on every door in this Capitol.”

If the legislation passes, Wisconsin would join Minnesota, Vermont, Alaska, and South Dakota as states that recognize Indigenous Peoples Day rather than Columbus Day on the second Monday in October.

Recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day is something the Indian Community School of Milwaukee has been working on since last year when fourth grade students helped push through a resolution in Milwaukee County to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. Now fifth-graders, the class took turns speaking at a press conference before Tuesday’s rally at the state Capitol.

Marin Denning, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, listened carefully to the students’ statements. He said their experience with government, helping push through the Milwaukee County resolution, was profoundly different than his experience with government at their age.

“I had watched as a young child when the federal government came in with a policy of terminating the federal recognition of Menominee people,” he said.

Denning said he and those supporting this legislation are seeking a bipartisan effort to turn back from the cultural divides in the country.

“We are reminded every Columbus Day honed out by our collective government to celebrate a slave trader and worse, the miseducation about his journey thrives in our schools,” Denning said.

The legislation doesn’t go farther than replacing the Columbus Day name with Indigenous Peoples Day, but Jason Dropik, principal of the Indian Community School in Milwaukee, says the name change would be significant.

Dropik said he’s hopeful the legislation will pass, and that it’s important for his students to be part of the process and raise awareness for others in Wisconsin.