Chanting and dancing, friends and family from various tribes wore their ceremonial furs, skirts and clothing to represent their heritage at Grand Park and LA City Hall to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday.
The celebration is the very first time Los Angeles didn't celebrate Christopher Columbus, who some viewed as an explorer but Native Americans blame for war and violence. Instead, hundreds of years since the Standing Rock Sioux tribe experienced the trauma of colonization, tribe member Robin Thundershield said Native Americans' rights were observed.
"This day has proven that perseverance and determination can make a difference and this is a small step forward to a lot of things that we're going to change," Thundershield said. Thundershield is an activist working for California Native Vote Project.
Indigenous Peoples Day is a celebration of the people who were living in America first. Every year, students are being taught about Columbus and how he discovered America. As a member of the Wyandotte Native American Tribe, Los Angeles Councilman Mitch O'Farrell led the effort of replacing the city holiday with the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day.
The LA City Council came together and voted to eliminate Columbus Day last year. The inaugural holiday consisted of a number of festivities to celebrate Indigenous people at a day-long event.
"I hope that everyone feels a little bit, a measure of fulfillment in their hearts. A measure of knowing that you belong, that we matter, that we will never ever be silent," O'Farrell said. "We have work to do, these false idols will fall, they will crumble. The truth will be told, the historical record is unambiguous. History is on our side."
By replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, indigenous people say they feel that LA is taking the proper steps to recognize several tribes – including the Tongva, the Taino tribe of the Caribbean, and the Navajo – who inhabited America before Columbus landed.
"It's a way for us to reclaim, to take power back for us and I think it's important that it happens on this day because of that, Christopher Columbus is a huge symbol for European exploration for the other world," said Yue C. Begay a transgender Navajo woman who is an Executive Committee Member of Indigenous Pride LA. "For us indigenous people he represents chaos."
Although Monday marks a new day of celebration, there continues to be resistance on celebrating indigenous people. Organizations and vendors shared their experiences on what they faced in the process of making Indigenous Peoples Day a city holiday.
"I heard some backlash about it, that there are those who are against it," Thundershield said. "If they really thought about it and did their homework to see exactly where they come from, how everything started, I think it might broaden their perspective."
Other booths included mental health resources and voting registration.
LA is one of 60 cities that are no longer celebrating Columbus Day. More cities are avoiding the traditional holiday honoring Christopher Columbus and some are now recognizing Oct. 8 for Native people.
"This is the first real acknowledgment of Indigenous Peoples Day," said Elizabeth Powers, American Indian Counseling Center Prevention and Early Intervention. "We're not trying to take anything away from other groups, it's just really honoring that they are here, that we are here alive and present today, we're not just pictures in a textbook or in the museum."
Correction: We misspelled the holiday's name in a previous tweet and a video. It's Indigenous Peoples Day, not Indigenous People's Day. The correction is issued at 8:05 p.m. on Oct. 10th.