Title
Celebrate/Commemorate Native American/Indigenous Peoples Day
Report
Below is an excerpt from the City Council Meeting on September 24, 2024 (C 24-0351), featuring remarks by Mayor Larry Klein and Muwekma Ohlone representative Julie Dominguez in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day. This transcript has been sourced from the closed captions on Sunnyvale's YouTube channel
Words from Mayor Klein.
"In 1977 the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas sponsored by the United Nations began to discuss replacing Columbus Day in the Americas with a celebration to be known as Indigenous People's Da. In 1992 Berkeley California was the first city in the United States to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day and since then over 200 cities, counties, universities, and states have also done the same thing. While Sunnyvale does not recognize Columbus Day as a holiday honoring the indigenous people of the land of this land is an important and vital part of ensuring our community is inclusive and welcoming in Sunnyvale. We are honored to stand upon the ancestral homelands of the Muwekma Ohlone people and named our latest City Park Muwekma Park in their honor."
Words from Julie Dominguez
"I am Julie Dominguez.
[Words in cocenyo (chochenyo) language].
I greeted you in Native Cocenyo language. My name is Julie Dominguez and I'm a member tribal Ambassador and Community Education chair for the Muwekma Ohlone tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm here today to represent on behalf of our Chairwoman Charlene C. Nijmeh, who unfortunately could not be with us today. First and foremost, thank you Mayor Klein and City Council Officials for inviting us here today and then for the proclamation towards
Indigenous People's Day I can't express how much it means not just for Muwekma Ohlone but for all indigenous people across Turtle Island. Especially from the renaming of the park and just the inclusivity it is towards our people...
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