City of Oakland Officially Recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Maria Spencer, Interim Associate Dean of Educational Services, Merritt College, and Marquel De La Cruz (Dine, Filipina) holding official resolution from city of Oakland. Photographs courtesy of Charles Lopez, Sr.

Published December 28, 2018

OAKLAND — The City of Oakland joined the ranks of cities throughout California and the nation at the December 4, 2018 city council meeting by officially recognizing the second week-end in October as Indigenous Peoples Day. This year the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco did the same, and joined approximately 46 other cities and some states by declaring this holiday. The city of Berkeley was the first city to do so in 1991, and has celebrated with a city sponsored and funded Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow every year since 1992 at Civic Center Park.

This official recognition by Oakland was initiated by the Merritt College Inter-tribal Student Union. The American Indian students currently attending Merritt College decided that it was time for Oakland to recognize officially the many contributions to Oakland by its Native American community. Most notable in the resolution was the recognition of the Inter-Tribal Friendship House, directed by Carol Wahpepah and numerous student and community volunteers since its inception in 1955. Other organizations honored during the city council meeting, under the direction of council member Noel Gallo, were the Native American Health Center, American Indian Child Resource Center, directed by Mary Trimble-Norris, the American Indian Film Institute and film festival, and United Indian Nations. The resolution was read by Natalie Aguilera, (Choctaw) Chief Administrative Officer at Native American Health Center, and an inspiring hip hop poem was performed by fifteen year old Mireya Smith-Mojica aka “Lil Deya” to the delight of all in attendance.

Oakland Council member Noel Gallo, Mireya Smith-Mojica, Natalie Aguilera (Choctaw), reading the resolution, Carol Wahpepah, Executive Director of Inter-tribal Friendship House, other families who are members of the Native American community in front of the assembled City Council.

“We wanted to request this from our city council because we know that every other group of people in the U.S. recognizes their leaders and celebrates them with a special day except American Indians. The Bay area represents the largest concentration of urban Native Americans. We think it is so important to recognize our part in the history of urban Indians who were re-located to San Francisco and the East Bay during the government’s Relocation Act of the 1950’s. We are now the third and fourth generation of those early families We are all still here, we are not gone or disappeared. The most important thing we want to accomplish now is to help identify and outreach within our communities and local high schools to help other American Indian students achieve higher education. We urban American Indians don’t receive the same financial support through scholarships and grants that reservation students get from the federal government. It’s really difficult for us,” Danielle Spencer, current President of the Merritt College Inter-tribal Student Union said.

This student organization has been teaching potential college students still in high school how to enroll, or “on-board,” among many other volunteer activities.

These students have been extremely busy according to Maria Spencer, current Interim Associate Dean of Educational Services at Merritt College.

“They are volunteering at all of our local community organizations in order to encourage and support high school students to take every advantage and apply to and graduate from a four year university. Many will attend Merritt College or one of the other Peralta colleges, then transfer to a U.C. The students have begun to harvest acorns around the hills in Oakland, and now have a sage garden at Merritt, where they harvest and tie up the sage and gift to our organizations. They have also organized many speakers and events at Merritt in order to continue to encourage themselves and other students at the college to succeed. Many members of their student club are not American Indian, but are encouraged to join in order to learn more about our tribes, and to foster a deeper understanding of diversity,” said Spencer.

Nanette Bradley Deetz is Dakota (Crow Creek, S.D.) and Cherokee. She as a B.A. & M.A. from UCLA in Theater/Dance and has appeared in numerous plays and in the original film version of “Carrie” and in “1941” with the late John Belushi.

The post City of Oakland Officially Recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day appeared first on Native News Online.