Cambridge Celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day

In 2016, the Cambridge City Council voted unanimously to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday of October. This name change is part of a growing movement across the country to change the narrative of history towards a recognition of the survival, resilience, diversity, and strength of Indigenous Peoples, who are among us as residents in Massachusetts and indeed across New England, the United States, and the world.

To celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the first time, a coalition of grassroots and local organizations are working together with the Office of the Mayor to launch a public celebration of Indigenous Peoples and their rich histories, cultures, and resilience. 

Below is a list of regional events!  

Friday, October 5, 2018:

Frank Waln live in Harvard Square. Winthrop Park 7pm

To mark this first public celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day in Cambridge MA, Lakota hip hop artist Frank Waln will perform in Harvard Square at Winthrop Park. Frank Waln is an award winning Lakota Hip Hop artist, producer, and audio engineer from the Rosebud Rez in South Dakota. A recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, he attended Columbia College Chicago where he received a BA in Audio Arts and Acoustics. His awards include three Native American Music Awards, the 3Arts Grant for Chicago Artists, and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation 2018 NationalArtist Fellowship for Artistic Innovation. He has been featured in The Fader, Vibe, NPR, Paper Magazine, ESPN, and MTV's Rebel Music. Frank Waln travels the world sharing his story through music and presentations focusing on healing and reconnecting to our roots. This concert is open to the public.

Special advance screening of PBS series ''Native America" 

NATIVE AMERICA is a new four-part series from Providence Pictures on PBS. Weaving history and science with living Indigenous traditions, the series brings to life a land of massive cities connected by social networks spanning two continents, with unique and sophisticated systems of science, art and writing. Made with the active participation of Native American communities and filmed in some of the most spectacular locations in the hemisphere, NATIVE AMERICA illuminates the splendor of a past whose story has for too long remained untold.

Episode 1:  "Caves to Cosmos''  Wednesday, October 3, 2018 @ Suffolk Law School

4:00 – 5:30pm  Suffolk University Law School - Room 235  120 Tremont Street, Boston
Sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic at Suffolk University Law School.  RSVP to Nicole Friederichs at nfriederichs@suffolk.edu.   

Episode 2: "Nature to Nations''  Tuesday, October 9, 2018 @ Harvard Chan School of Public Health

1:00-3:00 pm, Snyder Auditorium (Kresge G1) 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston

Episode 3: "Cities in the Sky"  Monday, October 15, 2018 @ Cambridge Public Library

7pm- 8:30 pm Cambridge Public Library Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway St, Cambridge 
Sponsored by Cultural Survival

Episode 4 "New Worlds Rising"  Monday, October 22, 2018 @ UMass Boston

4:00-6:00 pm, School for Global Inclusion and Social Development building, 100 William T Morrissey Blvd, Boston