Indigenous students, faculty and community members joined together in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 9. The Native and Indigenous Students Association at Yale, Students of the Indigenous Peoples of Oceania, known as IPO, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, known as AISES, coordinated events including performances on Cross Campus and smudging in Branford College.
“We're reclaiming this day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day to really celebrate Indigenous joy, revitalization, resurgence, resistance and persistence,” Mara Gutierrez ’25 (Diné/Navajo), co-president of NISAY, told the News. “There are not many Indigenous spaces at Yale, so being in community with each other for an extended period of time, and having it be really visible to Yale more broadly, has been really great.”
The state of Connecticut recognizes Oct. 9 as Columbus Day, and Yale does not include Oct. 9 as an official Yale holiday or a recess day.
In the afternoon, undergraduate students marched from the Native American Cultural Center on High Street to Cross Campus for a vigil, wearing cultural attire and holding posters to increase the visibility of the Indigenous community on Yale’s campus.
This year’s celebrations are the first to include the IPO, founded this fall following two years with record numbers of Pasifika undergraduates at Yale, according to NACC Dean Matthew Makomenaw. Student leaders said that because of the IPO community, there is newfound solidarity among Indigenous students at Yale.
“There’s a lot of solidarity between our Pasifika community and the many other Indigenous peoples at the NACC,” Joshua Ching ’26 (Kanaka Maoli), executive director for the IPO, said. “It’s so assuring to know that there’s so much support from Native American faculty and students, in really broadening the definition of what it means to be Native at Yale.”
After the Cross Campus vigil and performance from Yale Native drum group RT, afternoon programming included smudging in the Branford College courtyard led by Joaquín Lara Midkiff ’24 (Nahua Chilapantec). Smudging is a spiritual practice among some Indigenous peoples and involves burning sage, sweet grass or cedar.
Although Yale Hospitality previously hosted dinners dedicated to Indigenous People’s Day in Branford and Saybrook dining halls, this marks the first year in which all 14 residential dining halls served an Indigenous-inspired menu.
According to student leaders across Indigenous cultural affinity organizations, the menu planning required months of coordination for food sourcing with Yale Hospitality.
“It’s a momentous cause for celebration for us that Yale Hospitality was willing to work with us, so that we can continue to show our visibility — facets of our home — through food, and through communal meals,” said Truman Pipestem ’24 (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Osage Nation, Otoe-Missouria Tribe), co-president of NISAY.
Later Monday night, undergraduates Helen Shanefield ’26 (Kanaka Maoli), Jairus Rhoades ’26 (American Samoan) and Ching performed hula and traditional songs celebrating Hawaiian sovereignty in Branford College.
In preparation for Indigenous People’s Day, Pasifika students from IPO also hosted a lei-making workshop at the NACC on Sunday so that students and faculty could be adorned with lei for the holiday.
“It’s important to me to continue the practice of Native arts and culture into places like Yale, where it’s not prevalent, or was never prevalent historically,” Shanefield told the News. “It’s a great reminder of who I am and where I come from—to perpetuate my culture, even in places far from home.”
Events recognizing and celebrating Indigenous people will continue throughout the week. On Tuesday, Branford will have a college tea with Indigenous residential school scholar Benjamin Jacuk Dolchok, followed by an NACC dinner with Dolchok. On Wednesday, AISES and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science will host a scientific conference panel at the Watson Center.
Wednesday will also include beading at the NACC, and on Friday, the Asian American Cultural Center will host a Zoom meeting in celebration of Fijian Independence Day with the Fijian ambassador to the U.S., Jesoni Vitusagavulu.
“If we’re not invisible, we’re historical or deficit-based — it’s really important to also highlight that Indigenous people are succeeding and we are human, and we have humor and laughter. We’re not just history and culture, but we’re human beings,” said Makomenaw.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day falls on the second Monday of October each year.
Contact Tristan Hernandez at tristan.hernandez@yale.edu and Connor Arakaki at connor.arakaki@yale.edu
Correction, Oct. 10: An earlier version of the last paragraph in this article noted the month as November instead of October; it has now been fixed.