The Marquette City Commission and city staff are pictured during Tuesday’s commission meeting as attendees of the meeting look on. The commission unanimously voted to proclaim the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the meeting. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — The city of Marquette has officially joined several other Michigan cities — including Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Alpena, Detroit, East Lansing, Ferndale, Southfield and Traverse City — in recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The Marquette City Commission at its meeting Tuesday unanimously approved a motion made by Commissioner Paul Schloegel to designate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“We take great pride in bringing this to the Marquette community … and I think it’s something we can really hang our hat on,” Schloegel said.

Schloegel made the motion because he felt it was critical to recognize the importance of indigenous peoples to the Marquette area, the Upper Peninsula and the state as a whole, he said.

“I see great value in this recognition and to proclaim it as Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Schloegel said.

This follows Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proclamation Monday to recognize the date as Indigenous People’s Day throughout the state.

While the proclamation by the city commission comes a day after the second Monday in October due to the scheduling of the meeting — the city does not recognize Columbus Day as a holiday, but it is a state and federal holiday — commissioners emphasized they hope to build connections and collaborations with other entities to celebrate the day, as Northern Michigan University is developing a committee to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on its academic calendar.

“I also look forward to the opportunity to coordinate what the city actions might be with what the university can do because we are stronger when we work together. And this is an opportunity to do that,” Marquette Mayor Fred Stonehouse said.

Cody Mayer, president of the Associated Students of NMU, said he was glad to see the commission recognize the day, as he had originally brought forward a proclamation regarding Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the Marquette City Commission and has made efforts to have the day celebrated at NMU.

“Yesterday I made a proclamation on the behalf of students that we were recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And I thank all of you for doing this,” Mayer said.

He also emphasized that Indigenous Peoples’ Day is not replacing Columbus Day.

“I would also like to state that proclamation and request that I brought to the (NMU) Board Of Trustees did not mention Columbus Day once, at all, simply because NMU doesn’t have Columbus Day on the academic calendar either,” Mayer said. “But I thank you for doing this and recognizing this. It means a lot to our Native American community.”

Martin Reinhardt, interim director of NMU’s Center of Native American Studies and a professor of Native American Studies, said he was also glad to see the day recognized.

“I really appreciate the vote you’ve taken tonight. It means a lot. it’s a very small thing but it means an immense amount to our community and to building stronger relations,” Reinhardt said. “We have some things in our past that we need to heal and many people don’t realize that this is about healing, first and foremost.”

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal.net.