PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2021, he was way behind Philadelphia. Monday marks 13 years since the city’s first celebration of the day.
“We are the original people. The land that you stand on now is Lenapehoking,” said Tammy Walking Stick Riley, a Philly-based Indigenous rights advocate. She spoke at a City Council meeting last week Thursday in support of a resolution to recognize 13 years of celebrating Indigenous People’s Day in Philadelphia.
The resolution was introduced by Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr.
“We want to look at this and make sure that we understand and respect the fact that these Indigenous people were here first, these Indigenous people have a robust history,” Jones said.
“‘Manayunk’ in the Native American language means ‘a good place to drink.’ Think about it. They knew what they were talking about.”
To help Jones out — “Manayunk” roughly translates to “the place we go to drink” in Unami, the language spoken by the Lenape people in South Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware, since before anyone ever heard the word “Philadelphia.”
Artist Brujo de La Mancha also offered support in the chambers.
“People should have the right opportunity to celebrate and come together amid our brothers and cousins from the whole continent in this city of Philadelphia,” de La Mancha said.
El Ali, a longtime Indigenous rights activist, also said the resolution should be just the beginning of creating systemic changes to benefit Indigenous people in Philly.
“I’m hoping to, with this resolution and many others, to create better public policy for our city for American Indians and Indigenous migrants in our city,” Ali said.
Although Indigenous People’s Day has been celebrated for 13 years, only for the last three years has it been an official holiday of the city. Mayor Jim Kenney declared it so back in 2021.
A celebration of heritage
This year’s celebrations have highlighted the arts, culture and histories of Philadelphia’s many Indigenous populations. They’ve been happening all weekend. And on Monday, dozens of Indigenous Americans from across the country were in Penn Treaty Park to celebrate their heritage.
“We’re doing it today as sort of a counter-celebration hoping to turn Indigenous Peoples' Day into a statewide celebration as well,” said organizer Janis Stacy.
“We show people what Native culture is like, give an example of it. We actually bring our people together so we can form a community.”
Tonya Anna, a member of the Delaware tribe in Oklahoma, made the trek to Philadelphia to be part of that community.
“Well, it feels good to be home,” she said, commenting on the surreal feeling she got being back on the land her ancestors were forced to leave.
“To be here, to walk on the land that our ancestors had walked on, to see the Delaware River — I don’t know if I can find a word to explain it.”
Sonya Hough said that connection to ancestral land is important for kids as well as adults.
“To see little kids here get that knowledge, to know they’re on sacred ground, is so important. It helps with their foundation,” Hough said.
Stacy said education of non-Indigenous people is also a big part of the day.
“The kids aren’t learning that we still exist. I can’t tell you the number of times someone said ‘Your people are all gone,’” she said “We’re still here. So, teaching the kids we’re still here is important.”
She said this day is for all to observe, but for her it feels like a big family reunion.
“It feels great. We come out, I get to hear a lot of music, I get to meet people from different nations that I’m somewhat distantly related to, and we have a great day. We have some fried bread, we dance, we sing.”