4th graders made it a law!

IndigenousPeoples’

Day

The 4th graders wrote a resolution so that

Milwaukee County will celebrate Indigenous

Peoples’ Day on the second Monday of

October.

We researched the Indigenous Peoples’ Day movement that

is sweeping the country and has already replaced Columbus

Day in over 20 communities. We read many resolutions to

learn what writers did to make them successful.

Mr. Weishan, a Milwaukee County Supervisor and Mrs. Weishan’s

husband, came to visit and taught us about the different parts of a

resolution. Then we wrote our own resolution and sent it to Mr.

Weishan, hoping that it would soon become a law.

We gathered over 100 support photos from several states and

countries and right here at home. Each supporter holds a sign that

urges, “Milwaukee, celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day!”

We made support mosaics to show that people from all

over want Milwaukee to recognize Indigenous Peoples’

Day. 4th graders from La Escuela Fratney also made us

signs to show their support.

Austin, Jasmine, Adriana, Taylor, Carl, Grace, and Sofia testified in

front of a Milwaukee County Board committee on Dec. 2nd. We

explained why Milwaukee County should commemorate Indigenous

Peoples’ Day. The committee voted 5-0 to recommend our

resolution to the full Milwaukee County Board.

After our committee meeting, we received a lot of support from the

community. Family members and community leaders including Ho-

Chunk president Wilfrid Cleveland sent us letters we delivered to

the Milwaukee County Board. Our ICS family completed comment

cards to support us.

On Dec. 15th, we returned to the Milwaukee County

Courthouse. The drum opened the full board meeting. Then

Mr. Zimmerman gave the invocation by praying in Ojibwe.

Next Mr. Weishan introduced our resolution.

We had three supporters on the board who asked to join

Mr. Weishan as a co-sponsor of our resolution: Ms. Peggy

West, Mr. Willie Johnson, Jr. and Mr. Supreme Moore

Omokunde.

We only had one supervisor who opposed us. We didn’t know how the

rest of the board would vote. When it was time to vote, we stood silently

and held our support signs, so the supervisors could see the eyes of the

world upon them as they cast their vote.

The Milwaukee County Board voted 16-1 in favor of our resolution. Our

resolution passed the legislative branch, but we still needed Milwaukee

County Executive Chris Abele to sign it before it became law.

Chris Abele is the head of the executive branch on the

county level. He could either sign our resolution or veto it,

which sends it back to the board for another vote. Abele

signed our resolution on 12/29/16 and it became a law.

There are reasons we think celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day is

important. In our resolution, these reasons are called Whereas Clauses.

These explain why we should celebrate this new holiday instead of

Columbus Day.

Wisconsin is home to members of 11 federally recognized

tribes including the Ho-Chunk, Potawatomi, Menominee,

Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee, and 6 bands of Ojibwe.

Whereas,

Native peoples called Wisconsin home long before the first

European explorers reached the region.

Whereas,

Christopher Columbus did not visit the continent of North America

where we live, but instead landed on the islands in the Caribbean

including Hispaniola. He did not discover any of these places he

visited because there were people already living there.

Whereas,

Some people think that Native Americans are extinct, but

our cultures are very strong. We are here to protect Mother

Earth in a time when she really needs us.

Whereas,

Every community in Wisconsin has the duty to oppose

racism towards native people, which causes social

problems like poverty, poor health care, and a lack of

educational opportunities.

Whereas,

Act 31 is a law that says public schools must teach students about

Wisconsin’s Native American cultures grade school through high

school. IPD provides an opportunity for these teachings.

Whereas,

In 2015, Dane County began recognizing Indigenous

Peoples’ Day and the city of Madison renamed the holiday

in 2016. Madison is our state capital, so the whole state of

Wisconsin should celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day too.

Whereas,

Spanish records say there were more than 3 million Taino

people on Hispaniola when Columbus landed. By 1530,

there were only about 200 left because of Columbus’

actions, which included murder and selling the population

into slavery.

Whereas,

The city of Berkeley, California and the state of South

Dakota have been celebrating indigenous peoples since the

early 90s. That’s almost 30 years!

Whereas,

IPD was first thought of in 1977 by the Delegation of

Native Nations. They were meeting with the United

Nations about discrimination against indigenous peoples

worldwide.

Whereas,

In 2011, the Affiliated Tribes of Northern Indians representing 59

tribes from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California,

Western Montana, and some Alaskan tribes passed a resolution to

support changing Columbus Day into Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The state of Alaska renamed the holiday in 2015. We want to be

next to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day statewide.

Whereas,

Over 20 communities throughout the U.S. have decided to

celebrate IPD instead of Columbus Day including St. Paul,

Seattle, Olympia, Lincoln, Albuquerque, Portland, the whole

state of Alaska and now Milwaukee County. Why can’t

Wisconsin be next?

Whereas,

We think Indigenous Peoples’ Day should be more than just words

on a calendar. The 4th grade is making plans to celebrate with

teachings, traditional foods, and a powwow. We also would like to

teach other kids about Native American contributions. Indigenous

peoples are responsible for many important ideas and inventions.

The Great Law of PeaceOne of the most important native contributions is The Great Law of Peace, a plan that united nations hundreds of years ago. A being called the Peacemaker showed the Oneida, Mohawk, Onandaga, Seneca, and Cayuga how to live together in peace. A man named Hiawatha and a woman named Jikonsahseh helped him unite the original Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) with these teachings. The Great Law of Peace later inspired the U.S. Constitution.

We discovered that age doesn’t make you a leader. Your actions

make you a leader. Here are some of our reflections from our

Indigenous Peoples’ Day project.

I felt really happy and proud

when we got Indigenous

Peoples’ Day passed. I learned

a lot about the government.- Aubree

I showed leadership when I put all my

effort into the IPD project and I never

gave up. Making a difference is difficult

sometimes, but once you get it done, it

feels really good. – Jasmine

I feel happy because we get to celebrate

us for a change. Yay! I show leadership

to my family and school when I learn and help. - Grace

It surprised me that I was learning

lies about Columbus. I thought he

was a good person until I looked closer. - Carl

The most important part

was writing because that’s

how we won. So win or

lose nothing’s stopping us

from doing this unless we

stop hoping and working,

then, that’s when we lose. - Junior

I feel proud that we

passed the Indigenous

Peoples’ Day

Resolution and a little

bit shocked. Kids made

a change in the world.-Isabela

I was happy when we won and passed

our IPD resolution, but it’s not all about

winning. Sometimes you lose, but then

you get back up and try again.- Ison

I felt like we were doing something

not for just Native Americans, but

for everyone to enjoy Indigenous Peoples’ Day. - Anjelica

I learned how to write a

resolution and got to go to the

Milwaukee County Courthouse.

I helped classmates by reading

them other resolutions. People

around the world supported us.

I felt proud that we as 4th

graders made this big change.

- Krystiana

My 4th grade class and I were working very

hard and we made our dream come true. It’s

most important that kids did it because when

adults talk it’s not that exciting, and when a kid

talks the adults listen, and realize kids have

important things to say too. We showed other

kids they can change the world and make

history like we did with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. – Sofia

We should celebrate Indigenous Peoples’

Day because we matter.- Jianna

Indigenous Peoples’ Day to me

sounds better than Christopher

Columbus Day because

Christopher Columbus wasn’t

the first one to find North

America. I think it’s time to celebrate Native Americans. -Davon

I supported the students who spoke

to the Milwaukee County Board by

being quiet and representing ICS by holding up a poster. - Nevaeh

Only one of the members of the

Milwaukee County Board opposed

us, and the rest of the county board agreed with us. - Tayden

We won and passed our resolution. What

surprised me was that we only had one

opposer. What is an opposer? An

opposer is someone who is against

someone or something. It felt good to

pass it on the county level. I am the first

person in my family to pass a resolution.

- Anthony

We passed our Indigenous Peoples’

Day Resolution on 12/15/16 and it

was a time where we made history. - Taylor

I think Indigenous Peoples’ Day

was a good idea to do because we

are being celebrated for once.

- Dolina

The most important thing about

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is when

some of the 4th graders spoke to the

Milwaukee County Board because

we were brave. I was kind of shy, but I did it. - Adriana

I feel like we did something that will be

remembered. Indigenous Peoples’ Day should

be recognized because all these years we

thought Columbus was a big hero, but he

actually hurt people. We wanted Columbus Day

to be replaced by Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so

all people around the world will feel a change and feel good about helping us. – Brian

I showed leadership this year by speaking

in front of a Milwaukee County Board

committee on December 2nd. It was easy,

but I was nervous at the same time because

I did not want to mess up, so I took a deep

breath. Everybody was so, so, so, so, so

happy that it passed because we worked

hard on it. I could teach my 4 year old

sister about Indigenous Peoples’ Day when

she comes to ICS next year. – Austin

I am so happy that we passed

Indigenous Peoples’ Day in

Milwaukee County because

now we can persuade other

people. We have a chance to

change people’s minds about Columbus. - Rhianna

When we started the

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

resolution I thought it would

be hard, but it was pretty easy

to do. It would be really cool

to make it law everywhere in

Wisconsin. One day I hope

Indigenous Peoples’ Day will

replace Columbus Day

everywhere. - Rudy

We are excited about celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Milwaukee

County. Now we’d like to celebrate it everywhere in Wisconsin. Rep.

David Bowen, a lawmaker from the State Assembly, would like to help

us. He visited recently to teach us about how to make a law on the state

level.

We’ve learned that opportunities to be a leader are all around us. We plan to

look for more ways we can help others in the future. We want to make the

world a better, kinder place. How about you?

Miigwech for watching!

Yaw^ko for your support of our Indigenous Peoples’ Day effort.

Waewaenen for the opportunity to speak and share our ideas.

Thank you!