MTU adopts Indigenous Peoples’ Day

HOUGHTON — Michigan Technological University will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, a holiday growing in popularity across the country since it was first proposed in the late 1970s.

For several years now, Michigan Technological University has been celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with various activities and events. And while Valoree Gagnon discussed the adoption of the holiday on the university campus, she says she was not the one who started it. Gagnon is the director of University-Indigenous Community Partnerships with Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center.

“It’s an initiative that began outside of this region,” Gagnon said.

In the Upper Peninsula, the Indigenous People’s Day Campaign is an ongoing effort to promote the recognition of the second Monday of October as Indigenous People’s Day on institutional calendars across the U.P. The campaign is aligned with a rising nationwide effort- several cities, states, and universities across the nation have replaced the federal Columbus Day holiday with one that officially celebrates the Indigenous Peoples of the country.