Attendees seen at the Inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration at Los Angeles Grand Park on October 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
Celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day were held Sunday in East Los Angeles and Tujunga.
An indigenous music and arts festival will be held from noon-10 p.m. at Malinalli Superfoods in East Los Angeles. The free and family-friendly event will include music, dance and speakers.
The Sunland-Tujunga Indigenous Peoples Day celebration will be held from noon-3 p.m. at the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority site in Big Tujunga Canyon.
The celebration will include performances by the Tongva tribal song and dance group Toveema, the cultural activist music group Aztlan Underground and poet and songwriter Kelly Caballero.
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Ted Garcia Jr. and his younger brother Dennis Garcia will sing songs and recite stories. Musician John Mosquera will play original music from the Andes mountains.
The celebration is organized by ST Forward, which bills itself as “a group of dedicated Sunland-Tujunga volunteers who work together to transform our community through action, inclusion and civic engagement.”
A 2017 ordinance declared the second Monday in October in Los Angeles as Indigenous Peoples Day, replacing Columbus Day as a holiday on the city calendar.
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The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted in 2017 to declare the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, replacing Columbus Day as a holiday on the county calendar.
City and county offices will be closed Monday, including libraries.
Los Angeles County courts will be open. They were closed Sept. 22 for Native American Day.
Columbus Day remains a federal holiday.
In his proclamation declaring Monday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, President Joe Biden said, “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples, show our gratitude for the myriad contributions they have made to our world and renew our commitment to respect Tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
“The story of America's Indigenous peoples is a story of their resilience and survival; of their persistent commitment to their right to self-governance; and of their determination to preserve cultures, identities, and ways of life.
“Long before European explorers sailed to this continent, Native American and Alaska Native Nations made this land their home, some for thousands of years before the United States was founded. They built many nations that created powerful, prosperous, and diverse cultures, and they developed knowledge and practices that still benefit us today.”
