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Students, staff and faculty are invited to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day campus events on Oct. 14 and Oct. 16. Indigenous scholars and leaders will share tribal knowledge and educate the campus community about issues and priorities that matter to regional, national and international Native and Indigenous communities.

An attorney and advocate for Native Hawaiian identity and culture and a Southern Cheyenne Nation scholar and activist whose work centers on racial equity and tribal sovereignty will keynote an Indigenous Peoples Day plenary session and community lunch at the University Memorial Center on Oct. 14.

The celebratory opening session titled “Indigenous Peoples Day Reframed: Toward an Intersectional, Decolonial and Transnational Vision for Indigenous Sovereignty” is among Indigenous Peoples Day events at ����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ this month that are free and open to the campus and local communities. This year’s theme is “Reciprocity. Relevance. Recovery. Reclamation.” 

Makalika Destarte Naholowa’a

Autumn BlackDeer

   If you go

• Oct. 14, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.: Plenary Session and Community Luncheon, Glenn Miller Ballroom, University Memorial Center. for all participants.
• Oct. 16, 2–4 p.m.:  “Land Back, Language Back” panel discussion, UMC 386

Event sponsors include the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS), the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS), the Center for Inclusion and Social Change (CISC) and the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OSVC-DEI).

����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ the 2024 Indigenous Peoples Day website for more information about registration (RSVP required), public parking and other event details.

����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ the CISC website for more information about how to volunteer for and attend the Sept. 28 fall powwow, the first at ����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ in 23 years.

Makalika Destarte Naholowa’a, the recent past president of the National Native American Bar Association and executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and Autumn BlackDeer, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, will keynote the plenary session. in advance, as the session will include a community lunch.

����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ Chancellor Justin Schwartz will welcome the keynote speakers and attendees during opening remarks.

“I am honored to take part in a campus event that celebrates the legacies and resilience of the Native American and Indigenous peoples in Colorado and across the United States,” Schwartz said. “As an institution of higher education, we are uniquely positioned to help preserve Indigenous languages, histories and traditions. We are committed to supporting programs that achieve these goals and to collaborating further with tribal communities to ensure the success of Native American students.”

On Oct. 16, a panel discussion at UMC 386 titled “Land Back, Language Back,” which is also open to students, staff, faculty and community members, will focus on Indigenous sovereignty, social and environmental justice and civil rights. Panelists will include tribal leaders and academic experts from ����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ, Oakland University and Colorado State University.

“Indigenous Peoples Day provides abundant opportunities for academic discussions, educational workshops and celebrations that foster a campus culture of learning, advocacy and community building—all of which are critical to competently engage in culturally responsive allyship in solidarity with Native and Indigenous humans,” said David Humphrey, assistant vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion in the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity,  Equity and Inclusion.