Fifth Graders Propose Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Swarthmore Rutledge School fifth grade students asked the General Government Committee of Swarthmore Borough Council to add a celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the calendar. First row (l to r): Sophia Gao, Vivian Legate-Yang, Izyan Weljie, Zeb Smithey, Ella Degnan, and Maisie Sentivan. Second row (l to r): committee member Jill Gaieski, Mayor Marty Spiegel, committee chair Sarah Graden, committee member Michael Carey, and teacher Liz Corson. Photo: Heidi Sentivan
Last October, fifth graders at Swarthmore Rutledge School read about Indigenous Peoples’ Day in a Scholastic magazine. They were surprised to learn that few states formally celebrate the holiday. Pennsylvania is among the states that do not.
At the same time, students were learning about Columbus’ “discovery” of America and about colonists coming to “the New World” from the perspective of indigenous people. Looking at primary sources, including Columbus’ journals, many students were shocked to learn about the violence around exploration and colonization. This spurred them to want to learn more about Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
A class visit by a student’s grandfather, who is also the mayor of Chester, inspired students to be active participants in local government. Many students attended a Rutledge Borough Council meeting in December to share their feelings about replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Next, the students decided to take their idea to Swarthmore Borough Council, starting with the General Government and Human Services Committee.
In preparation for this meeting, the class contacted Tyrese Gould Jacinto, the daughter of the Chief of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation in Southern New Jersey. They asked her what she thought about celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. Tyrese told them, “If we have our own day that really has meaning, like the harvest, then it will mean more, [there will] be fewer hurt feelings, and there will not be any controversy from taking something away.” This had a strong effect on the fifth graders. They decided not to request that Swarthmore stop celebrating Columbus Day, but rather that they add a celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
On Monday, February 17, six students attended the meeting of the General Government Committee of Swarthmore Borough Council and took turns sharing their thoughts.
Here is a draft of the resolution the fifth graders brought:
Indigenous People’s Day will:
Be recognized by the Swarthmore and Rutledge borough councils.
Fall during the traditional harvest time, which is in September, the third or fourth Friday, after the Harvest full moon.
Honor all indigenous people, particularly the Lenape and Nanticoke-Lenape nations on whose land we live. We will celebrate this day on the same day that the Nanticoke-Lenape Nation celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Be promoted by Swarthmore and Rutledge through online calendars.
After the presentation and some discussion, the committee agreed to draft a resolution to present to the Swarthmore Borough Council.
