The second Monday of October has has been traditionally celebrated as the day that Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas. However, in 1991, the Berkeley, California City Council chose instead to celebrate the original inhabitants of North America on the same day as Columbus Day.
That was part of the beginning of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a counter-celebration that recognizes the history and culture of the Native Americans of the land we now know as the United States. For a long time, activists wanted to share the true history of the oppression of indigenous people under Columbus’ colonization.
While many children, like myself, grew up learning much more about Christopher Columbus than the indigenous people of the Americas, the movement to change that has grown. Many cities, like Cincinnati, Ohio, have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
One of the many beautiful aspects of the culture of the indigenous people is the artwork. To celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we wanted to highlight a few incredible indigenous designers.
Votan Henriquez
An indigenous Los Angeles artist and graphic designer who creates incredible murals and apparel under his company, NSRGNTS.
Sadie Red Wing
An indigenous designer and educator who teaches at the University of Redlands, Sadie is an advocate for indigenous and multicultural design.
Ryan RedCorn
A designer and photographer, Ryan is the co-founder of Buffalo Nickel Creative and founder of Demockratees.
Jeffrey Veregge
Jeffrey is an award-winning designer and comic book artist who currently works at Marvel Entertainment.
