An annual Celebration and Teach-in that we co-organize every October 12th in the city of Philadelphia to commemorate the indigenous traditions, cultures, and resistances of the Americas.
Started: October 12th, 2017
Website: https://ipdphilly.org
Background
In 2017, our first “Indigenous Peoples Day, Celebration and Teach-In ” took place at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and it honored the Lenni-Lenape today, on whose ancestral territory we stand, and celebrated the multi-ethnic community of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas living in the Philadelphia region (American Indians, Native Americans, First Nations (Pueblos Originarios), Native Mexicans, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiians). It featured speakers from the The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, Ramapough Lunaape Nation, Taino Council Guatu Ma Cu a Boriken , Mexicas and local organizations Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac, Natives at Penn, and Quechua Penn. Also, it featured dancers and drummers from the Aztec/Mexica community, the Nanticoke Indian Dance Troupe and Tide Water Agency Drummers.
On October 12th and 13th of 2018, our committee featured the work of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape, Mexica, and Taino community. At the Friends Center, we had Speakers and performers highlighted Lenape Tribal history, culture, religion, and contemporary concerns, the Taíno identity, and cultural development among Puerto Ricans and their homeland Borikén/Puerto Rico, Andean music using native South American instruments, and genocidal “removal” practices. At the Hunting Park, the mini-powwow featured prayers and celebrations with drummers, a hoop dancer, a grass dancer, a women’s’ fancy dancer, an Andean musician, Taíno dancers, Aztec dancers, and inter-tribal dances.
On October 12th of 2019, we celebrated this date of culture and resilience at the Penn Treaty Park of Philadelphia.