Rockford Officially Declares October 12th Indigenous People’s Day

It's official, October 12th in Rockford has been declared Indigenous People's Day. Monday is still widely recognized as Columbus Day by a lot of places around the United States. However, like many cities, Rockford is making the change to recognize indigenous people.

City leaders say Rockford holds a significant amount of Native American History. And even though Monday has historically been known as Columbus Day, one alderman says it’s not about celebrating one idea over the other, but also recognizing a group that was native to the land.

According to WTVO 9th Ward Alderman Bill Rose said -

It’s important for us to celebrate all groups of people, and when we know that we’re not doing that when we know people are being left behind I think it’s a really important day for us to move forward as a city and say everyone needs to be celebrated at some point.

The proclamation urges all citizens to celebrate the thriving culture and value that native people bring to the city.

H/T WTVO