Essex County Shows Solidarity On Indigenous Peoples' Day

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Communities across the nation celebrated a landmark Indigenous Peoples' Day on Monday, including Essex County.

Indigenous Peoples' Day – which was recognized by President Joe Biden this year – is a day to honor Native Americans and their contributions to U.S. society. It takes place on the second Monday of October, the same day as Columbus Day.

Here are a few ways that residents, officials and advocates in the county marked this year’s celebration.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In observance of the holiday, Newark closed City Hall and suspended most non-emergency local municipal services. Police, fire and other uniformed emergency services were unaffected. The city’s municipal court was closed on Indigenous Peoples Day, with a judge available to preside over bail hearings for defendants in custody.

East Orange also closed municipal buildings in observance of the holiday.

In West Orange, Mayor Robert Parisi proclaimed that the second Monday of October will celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day in the township.

"Every day, we're surrounded with reminders of our nation's Native American ancestors," Parisi said in a video, pointing out the town's own historic links to the Lenape.

• See related article: West Orange To Recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day, Mayor Proclaims

ACKNOWLEDGING THE PAST

The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice said that its members stand in solidarity with Indigenous people celebrating their roots and exerting their right to sovereignty.

“In New Jersey, we are on the stolen land of Lenni-Lenape and Nanticoke-Lenape nations,” the group wrote in a social media post.

Others, including a pair of arts venues in Essex County, acknowledged the above sentiment in their own posts.

ACTIVISM

On Monday and Tuesday, climate justice activists and clergy at Bnai Keshet in Montclair will join representatives of impacted Indigenous, Brown, Black, and low-income communities “living on the front-lines of the climate emergency” at the White House.

Together, the activists will demanded that President Biden end all fossil fuel projects, Bnai Keshet spokespeople said.

“We are invited to this action by an indigenous-led coalition of frontline communities from around the country working to stop the climate catastrophe,” Bnai Keshet Senior Rabbi Elliott Tepperman said. “They have come together to challenge the fossil fuel industry at the national level, recognizing that victory over any one project is not enough. To reach safety, we need to stop them all.”

As a follow up to the action in Washington D.C., Bnai Keshet climate activists are planning an interfaith Essex County action for November, which will happen in conjunction with their Climate Justice Shabbat on Nov. 20.

RAISING AWARENESS

The Livingston Public Library released a list of books that "serve as an introduction to a rich and diverse heritage of fiction, nonfiction, history, poetry, memoir and more by and about Indigenous peoples in the United States."

• See related article: NJ Library Recommends Books To Read For Indigenous Peoples' Day

Other Essex County residents and groups posted messages of solidarity on social media for Indigenous Peoples' Day.

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