Indigenous Peoples Day

October 12, 2026

Today we honor the people whose societies were established and traditions cultivated in the Americas for millennia before any European explorers ever set sail toward the western horizon. Some natives helped the earliest European settlers survive and adapt to their new environment. Later, others aided the colonists during the Revolution. Our form of government with three equal branches was modeled on that of the Six Nations of the Iroquois.

And in return, our ancestors decimated the herds of buffalo on which many native populations depended; claimed ownership of the land that sustained tribal nations, then relegated the people to small delimited areas; and committed what we would now call war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against these people—some of the worst of it against children.

We need to rethink the purpose of this holiday. We should redesignate it as “Truth and Reconciliation Day,” following the example of our Canadian neighbors. But unlike Canada, we need to go beyond the tragedy of the boarding schools. Much more harm was done to the indigenous populations throughout the history of the colonies and our country. While apologies were issued by President Obama for lands seized and “years of official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the Federal Government” and by President Biden for the boarding schools, these were apologies only. No recompense was offered. We must to do more; we need to atone for all of it.

These are the Tribal Nations of Wisconsin:

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Forest County Potawatomi
Ho-Chunk Nation
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
Oneida Nation
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Mole Lake (Sokaogon Chippewa Community) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians
Brothertown Indian Nation (not recognized by state or federal government)

I encourage you to learn about the Indigenous Peoples of your state.

For more information about Wisconsin:
Tribal Lands map: https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/map/
Info about the individual Tribal Nations: https://dpi.wi.gov/amind/tribalnationswi
Brothertown: https://brothertownindians.org/history/

Other resources

Native peoples and early settlers: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-Americans-and-colonization-the-16th-and-17th-centuries

Native peoples during the Revolution:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-nations-fought-in-the-american-revolution-to-protect-their-ancestral-lands-after-the-war-settlers-seized-their-territory-anyway-180988435/

Cooperation and conflict:
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2026/0917/america-250-native-americans

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Canada):
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: https://nctr.ca/

Obama’s apology: https://indianlaw.org/node/529

House Bill 3326, Section 8113, pp 45–46:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-111hr3326enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr3326enr.pdf

Senate Resolution 14: https://www.congress.gov/111/bills/sjres14/BILLS-111sjres14is.pdf

Biden’s apology: https://narf.org/united-states-apology-boarding-schools/

Government apologies:
https://listverse.com/2024/11/03/10-times-the-u-s-government-formally-apologized/