{"id":90932,"date":"2015-10-12T15:27:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T21:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=90932"},"modified":"2015-10-13T09:56:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T15:56:35","slug":"albuquerque-says-adios-to-columbus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/10\/albuquerque-says-adios-to-columbus\/","title":{"rendered":"Albuquerque says adios to Columbus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Albuquerque<\/a>

Will Keightley \/ Creative Commons<\/p>

Albuquerque at sunset. (photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Christopher Columbus is being\u00a0laid to rest on Monday in Albuquerque. For the first time Duke City residents will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day<\/a> (IPD), as proclaimed Oct.\u00a07 by the Albuquerque City Council.<\/p>\n

The proclamation was \u201cnothing short of extraordinary,\u201d said Din\u00e9 (Navajo) Melanie Yazzie, co-founder of the Red Nation, a new Native activist organization that, together with allied groups, influenced the council\u2019s action. Passed by a 6-3 vote the proclamation<\/a> reads in part:<\/p>\n

Whereas, Albuquerque recognizes the occupation of New Mexico\u2019s homelands for the building of our City and knows indigenous nations have lived upon this land since time immemorial and values the progress of our society accomplished through and by American Indian thought, culture, and technology. … Albuquerque encourages businesses, organizations and public entities to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day which will be used to reflect on the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people on this land, and to celebrate the thriving culture and value that our Indigenous nations add to our City\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Albuquerque joins more than a dozen other U.S. cities and counties that have proclaimed Indigenous Peoples Day in substitution for Columbus Day. According to Yazzie, similar measures were to be\u00a0be considered in Denver and Oklahoma City. The 33-year-old activist and scholar said the Abolish Columbus Day movement was \u201cspreading like wildlife,\u201d with Native political activism in general witnessing its strongest upsurge since the 1970s.<\/p>\n