Letter to the Council from Mahtowin Munro — File 209047

From: Alderman Clingan To: John Long Subject: Letter to the council from Mahtowin Munro Date: Thursday, October 10, 2019 8:04:43 PM Dear Somerville City Council, I am the founder of IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org and our organization has been involved in leading Indigenous Peoples Day across the state. We and our partner organizations have also been involved in helping to implement Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. First, we were so happy last year when Mayor Curtatone took the important step of declaring Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day in Somerville. His statement was thoughtful and beautifully written, and we have shared it widely. We appreciate the support from so many people in various Somerville communities and this strong stand against the erasure of Indigenous peoples. However, a year later, It does not appear that there is a process in place to implement the holiday in Somerville. For instance, that we are aware, there is no banner by Somerville City Hall, nor do we see any indication that the City is sponsoring any public celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day.  The day presents a tremendous opportunity for all ages to learn about Indigenous cultures and histories and also to find out about how to support our current struggles.  We also don't know if the public schools' curriculum is being revamped in any ways to enhance the students' knowledge of Indigenous peoples, present and past.  We hope that the City Council, the Mayor, and others in Somerville will take concrete steps to implement this holiday in the future. Please let us know if we can be helpful in any way in those efforts. Meanwhile, we would also like you to know that we have a statewide Indigenous Peoples Day bill, House Bill 3665, that is currently stuck in committee at the State House. We would appreciate your support in contacting the members of the joint State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee to ask them to report the bill favorably out of committee now so that we can take this to a statewide level. For more information, please go to our website IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org.  Thank you. Mahtowin Munro for IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org and MAIndigenousAgenda.org Please celebrate with us on Monday Tufts University Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration

Come join for our 4th annual Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebration. Monday October 14th Featured will be Indigenous speakers, singers, dancers, and food!  Academic Quad, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 4:00 PM.   More info -- JESSE CLINGAN - ALDERMAN, WARD 4 PH: [phone removed]