GREENSBORO, N.C. — More than a dozen states and 100 cities have adopted the Indigenous People's holiday.
Back in 2018, Greensboro council members approved a resolution recognizing Oct. 9 as Indigenous Peoples' Day across the city. City leaders agreed the holiday should commemorate native people for their contributions and sacrifices.
Guilford Native American Association breaks records nationwide for its longevity. In Greensboro, the association serves 11 surrounding counties in the Triad. The organization has members of all eight recognized tribes in North Carolina, serving over 6,000 indigenous people in the Piedmont Triad area.
"I am the first generation of indigenous people who have grown up here in the Triad area," Jennifer Revels Baxter said.
She is the Executive Director of GNAA who is following in the ancestor's moccasins.
"My father was Lonnie Revels, and he was the first native American elected to the Greensboro City Council," Baxter said.
She said the food we eat, and the way we take care of the earth, have a connection to indigenous people.
"Preserving mother earth, you know oftentimes we are referred to as the 'first environmentalist' long before that first term was coined. We as urban indigenous people are told to respect the land for the next generations to come," Baxter said.
Some historians want others to know that indigenous people play a big part in our history here and now.
"There are a lot of cultural practices now that have ties back to the past. We look at the difference in the similarities to understand as much as we can about the people who lived here so long ago," Glenn Perkins, the Curator of Community History at Greensboro History Museum said.
The GNAA said Indigenous Peoples' Day is meant for reflection and to acknowledge those who are forever a part of this land.
"We are here. Our children are sitting in classrooms, we have teachers educating our children, we have business leaders. We are building and adding to the community here in Greensboro," Baxter said.
November is National American Indian Heritage Month.