On Tuesday, March 29, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to celebrate Juneteenth and Indigenous People’s Day as city holidays, beginning this year. 

In 2014, a resolution was passed by the city council encouraging the recognition of Indigenous People’s Day. However, the resolution did not create a holiday. Recentl

y, both holidays have gained recognition and respect, with President Biden recognizing both Indigenous People’s Day and Juneteenth as federal holidays.

Indigenous People’s Day first began as a celebration in place of Columbus Day by those who oppose the celebration of Christopher Columbus. This is primarily because of objections raised regarding Columbus’s violent colonization methods during his time in America. Because of this, many groups representing indigenous people throughout the nation began celebrating the natives of this country instead of a man they found morally reprehensible.

The idea of celebrating an alternative holiday recognizing indigenous people throughout the country started decades ago, but began to gain popularity in the mid 2010s. This newfound acceptance and support of the idea resulted in many cities and states officially celebrating this new holiday in place or alongside Columbus Day. As of writing, a total of 15 different states officially recognize Indigenous People’s Day.

In October 2021, Seattle Pacific University recognized Indigenous People’s Day for the first time, creating a dedicated chapel time and hosting a music event on campus. For many years, Columbus Day has been celebrated in varying levels across the country. More recently, activists have spoken out against the holiday, citing issues with the portrayal of Christopher Columbus and the lack of history of indigenous people.

Some Seattle Pacific University students hope that education about both holidays is incorporated into the university’s curriculum.

First-year biology major Alexander Heller shared his wishes for increased education about both holidays.

“It would definitely be good to get more knowledge out there about those holidays,” Heller said. “They seem like really cool holidays that should be celebrated more often.”

First-year music production major Henry Moe spoke about the need for greater levels of education and the positive recognition by governments of minority groups.

“I can’t really speak to more because I haven’t taken any classes where they have talked about it, but I think it’s always a good thing when you have governments recognizing minorities and doing things to increase public knowledge,” Moe said.

Similarly to Indigenous People’s Day, Juneteenth is another holiday that has finally received recognition from the government, becoming an official federal holiday last year. Despite only recently being recognized, it too has had a long road to finally being adopted by the nation.

Juneteenth first began as a celebration on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger  began the process of freeing slaves with the support of Union troops throughout the south. This lead to an annual celebration starting the following year, with former slaves rejoicing in their newly acquired freedom.

These celebrations began to gain more and more popularity in the decades that followed, with many festivities across the country occurring on June 19 beginning in the early 20th century. These celebrations received another boost of attention in the civil rights era, with many activists using it as a day to celebrate freedom and demand equality for all.

In 2021, after decades of work by activists across the country, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President, making it an official federal holiday.

Moe discussed the lack of visibility in the media of both Juneteenth as well as Indigenous People’s Day.

“As a whole, I just feel like those two days are under-publicized and under-represented,” Moe said. ”It’s an issue that I don’t know off the top of my head what Juneteenth represents.”

As city-recognized holidays, parking within the city of Seattle is free during both days. SPU celebrated Indigenous People’s Day this past year, creating a dedicated chapel time and musical performances, allowing students to celebrate and reflect on the holiday.

Moe shared his wishes about increasing his personal education about both holidays.

“I feel like I need to learn more. I know about those two days when they come around,” Moe said. “Indigenous People’s Day I had known about, but didn’t really make it a time for any personal reflection until this past year, when at chapel they had Mending Wings come and lead chapel. It was actually really meaningful to me.”