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STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 3, 2018

To: Jeff Meston, Acting City Manager

From: Tracy Sheldon, Communications Manager

Re: Discussion and Possible Direction/Action Regarding Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day

RECOMMENDATION:

Hear Staff Report; Receive Public Input; Receive Council Comments; Provide Direction/Action Regarding Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.

BACKGROUND:

During the Public Comment section of the City of South Lake Tahoe City Council meetings on February 6, 2018, February 20, 2018 and March 20, 2018, local community members asked the City Council to consider replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.

City Councilmember Laine made a motion and Mayor Pro Tern Davis seconded the motion for staff to research Indigenous People's Day, contact community members requesting the change to Indigenous People's Day and bring back a staff report to a future City Council meeting for Council to discuss and provide direction/action regarding replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.

ISSUE AND DISCUSSION:

HISTORY Indigenous People's' Day is a holiday that celebrates the Indigenous People's of America. It is celebrated across the United States, and is an official city and state holiday in various localities around the country. It began as a counter-celebration to the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day, which honors European explorer Christopher Columbus. Indigenous People's Day is intended to celebrate Native Americans and commemorate their shared history and culture.

Indigenous People's, also known as first People's: aboriginal People's or native People's, are ethnic groups who are the original inhabitants of a given region , in contrast to groups that have settled , occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are usually described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region .

The Indigenous People's' Day holiday was first instituted in Berkeley, California in 1992, coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. There are currently 95 cities which celebrate Indigenous People's' Day in the United States, 10 of which are in the State of California . (Attachment 1)

Consideration of Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day City Council Meeting: April 3, 2018

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The following 25 states DO NOT observe Columbus Day:

Alaska Louisiana South Carolina Arkansas Michigan Tennessee California Minnesota Texas Delaware Mississippi Vermont Florida Nevada Washington Hawaii North Carolina Wisconsin Iowa North Dakota Wyoming Kansas Oklahoma Kentucky Oregon

Indigenous People's Day is held on the second Monday of October, coinciding with the designated date for the federal observance of Columbus Day.

KEEP TAHOE TRUE Local community member Reid Reichardt created the website https://keeptahoetrue.org in an effort to provide information on the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day. City staff contacted Mr. Reichardt on March 12, 2018 and exchanged information on March 12th and 21 st. 2018. (Attachment 2)

Information from the Keep Tahoe True Website: Why rename Columbus Day?

• Despite what many of us were taught as children , Christopher Columbus did not "discover" America. There were millions of people already living here when he left Europe. Furthermore, unlike the Vikings before him , Columbus never even set foot on the North American continent. That's because as soon as he found some peaceful people to exploit in the Caribbean, he did just that, then headed back to Spain(+) to get more ships to transport the slaves(+) and gold(+). And as for those natives who remained in the Caribbean, Columbus's treatment of them would today be classified as crimes against humanity, including mass enslavement, rape, torture and genocide.

• So renaming Columbus Day to "Indigenous People's Day" is not a rewriting of history. It is a correction of mis-written history. But this is a lie whose time has come to be rectified. We should not be passively honoring a man who symbolizes the beginning of what would most accurately be called the "American Holocaust."

• Nor should we be teaching children to honor a man who was willing to completely disregard the wellbeing of others in his search for personal wealth. Kids today need new types of heroes, with new definitions of success, if they're to create a better world for themselves and their children .

Isn't Columbus Day about honoring Italians? • Columbus Day became a federal holiday in the 1930's, as a result of political lobbying

and an effort to offset discrimination against Italian immigrants. However, discrimination against Italian Americans is no longer a significant issue. But most important, as explained above, it is now well known that Columbus was not a person to be proud of. He symbolizes the beginning of one of the darkest periods of bigotry/racism in American history; something SL T should have no part in honoring.

• If Congress had enacted "Italian Restaurant Day" back in the 1930's, there most likely wouldn't be any issue today. But now that we've been unwittingly celebrating a slaver, murderer, rapist, and simple-minded opportunist for generations, it would be most appropriate to rename Columbus Day to something that honors his victims.

Consideration of Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day City Council Meeting: April 3, 2018

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Why this is especially appropriate for SL T • Lake Tahoe has an extremely long Native American history. This area was the heart of

Washoe territory for over 6,000 years (up until the gold/silver rushes less than 200 years ago) . Even the word "Tahoe" itself is derived from a Washoe word .

• Also, while it would be nice to think that our having 50+ streets in South Lake Tahoe named after indigenous tribes symbolizes our local respect for native cultures, continuing to honor Christopher Columbus is quite incongruent with such respect.

FEDERAL HOLIDAY RECOGNITION Columbus Day is one of ten federal holidays recognized nationwide by the United States Government. All non-essential federal government offices are closed on Columbus Day which is recognized as the second Monday in October.

Columbus Day is a U.S. holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas on October 12, 1492. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century, but did not become a federal holiday until 1937. For many, the holiday is a way of both honoring Columbus' achievements and celebrating Italian-American heritage. But throughout its history, Columbus Day and the man who inspired it have generated controversy, and many alternatives to the holiday have proposed since the 1970s.

COMMUNITY SURVEY City staff posted an online survey via Survey Monkey March 13-19, 2018 and obtained 596 responses. The ·survey was posted on the City's website, the City's Facebook page and distributed to all individuals who have signed up to receive emails from the City. Additionally, City surveys, resolutions and ordinances were researched in the state of California and throughout the United States to identify best practice approaches by other jurisdictions.

Survey Introduction The City of South Lake Tahoe City Council has been asked by community members to consider replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. The following brief survey has been created to obtain the communities feedback on replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. Currently there are 10 California cities which have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day; including: Berkeley, Santa Cruz, San Fernando, Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, San Luis Obispo, Watsonville and San Francisco.

Indigenous People's Day is a holiday that celebrates the Indigenous peoples of America. It is celebrated across the United. States, and is an official city and state holiday in various localities around the country. It began as a counter-celebration to the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day, which honors European explorer Christopher Columbus. Indigenous People's Day is intended to celebrate Native Americans and commemorate their shared history and culture.

Indigenous peoples, also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples or native peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original inhabitants of a given region , in contrast to groups that have settled , occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are usually described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region .

The holiday was first instituted in Berkeley, California in 1992, coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. There are currently 95 cities which celebrate Indigenous People's Day in the United States, 10 of which are in the State of Californ ia.

Survey Questions:

Consideration of Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day City Council Meeting : April 3, 2018

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1) Have you heard of Indigenous Peoples Day? Yes: 73.78% No: 26.22%

2) Do you support replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in the City of South Lake Tahoe? Yes: 36.70% No: 63.30%

3) Do you support adding Indigenous Peoples Day to the calendar as well as keep Columbus Day on the City of South Lake Tahoe calendar? Yes: 27.92% No: 72.08%

01 Have you heard of Indigenous People's Day?

Yes

No -

02 Do you support replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day in the City of South Lake Tahoe?

YH

No

03 Do you support adding Indigenous People's Day to the calendar as well as keep Columbus Day on the City of South Lake Tahoe calendar?

Yes -No

(Attachment 3)

Consideration of Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day City Council Meeting: April 3, 2018

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CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES & VISION: "We will reflect the National Treasure in which we live."

Consideration of adopting a resolution which replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day reflects the National Treasure in which we live by celebrating Native Americans and commemorate their shared history and culture.

FINANCIAL AND/OR POLICY IMPLICATIONS: There are no financial or policy implications to the City for considering this concept at this time.

SIGNATURES:

By: Reviewed and Approved By:

~~ Communications Manager

Attachments:

Attachment 1: U.S. Cities and Universities which celebrate Indigenous People's Day Attachment 2: Email correspondence with Mr. Reichardt of Keep Tahoe True Attachment 3: Survey results Attachment 4: Draft Resolution

Attachment 1

U.S. Cities and Universities which celebrate Indigenous People's Day

CITY OF SOUTH LAKE TAHOE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF APRIL 3, 2018

U.S Cities and Universities Which Celebrate National Indigenous People's Day

Adopted 1992 Berkeley, California

Adopted 1994 Santa Cruz, California

Adopted 2014 Minneapolis, Minnesota Seattle, Washington Grand Rapids, Minnesota Minnesota State University, Mankato

Adopted 2015 St. Paul, Minnesota Albuquerque, New Mexico Portland, Oregon Traverse City, Michigan Akron/Newstead , New York Olympia, Washington Village of Lewiston , New York Anadarko, Oklahoma Carrboro, North Carolina Belfast, Maine San Fernando, California Alpena, Michigan Bexar County, Texas

Adopted 2016 Denver, Colorado Madison, Wisconsin State of Minnesota State of Vermont University of Utah Brown University Cornell University Syracuse University Ann Arbor, Michigan Spokane, Washington Bainbridge Island, Washington East Lansing , Michigan Santa Fe, New Mexico Phoenix, Arizona State of Alaska

Ypsilanti , Michigan Durango, Colorado Asheville , North Carolina Eugene, Oregon Cambridge, Massachusetts Boulder, Colorado Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Lawrence, Kansas Amherst, Massachusetts Northampton, Massachusetts Bozeman, Montana

Adopted 2017 Austin , Texas Bangor, Maine Brunswick, Maine Burbank, California Davenport, Iowa Durham, New Hampshire Iowa City, Iowa Ithaca, New York Johnson County, Iowa Long Beach, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles County, California Moscow, Idaho Nashville, Tennessee Norman, Oklahoma Oberlin , Ohio Orono, Maine Portland , Maine Salt Lake City, Utah San Luis Obispo, California Stanford , Kentucky Tulsa, Oklahoma Tahlequah , Oklahoma University of Alaska Fairbanks Watsonville , California

Adopted 2018 Lawton, Oklahoma San Francisco, California

Attachment 2

Email correspondence with Mr. Reichardt of Keep Tahoe True

Tracy Sheldon

From: Sent: To: Subject:

Follow Up Flag: Flag Status:

Hi Tracy,

Reid <reid@fastma il.net> Wednesday, Ma rch 21, 2018 10:26 AM Tracy Sheldon Re: KeepTahoeTrue.org Inquiry

Follow up Flagged

1) In case you intend to share any material from the link I sent previously, I wanted to let you know that some items on that page have been updated: https://keeptahoetrue.org/faq.php

2) Also, I emailed the message below to the City Council , but I'm not sure if anything I send actually gets read :) Perhaps you can review and relay to them: (Thank you!)

At yesterday's council meeting , I was asked whether the US Congress had discussed renaming Columbus Day. The publ ic comment period doesn't allow much time for extensive history discussion , but I've provided some references below regarding the circumstances under which Congress made their decision in the 1930's. To discuss that in 4-minute increments would be inefficient, and likely cloud the primary issue with issues related to the dilemmas of political lobbying.

Based on information available at the time, Congress had hoped that the Columbus Day holiday would be a good way to honor immigrants (see reference "a" below) . However, updated information has transformed it into a symbol of intolerance.

It would be great if Congress revisits its decision at some point, but we don't have to wait for that change -- SL T City Council has the authority to make its own decision on this now, based on updated information , as many other cities have done.

References: (a) "Congress enacted federal holidays to catch up to states ... Among the reasons cited for the Columbus Day federal holiday was that it was being observed in 40 states at the time. Congress also believed the holiday would mark the contribution of immigrants to the United States ... just 23 states and the District of Columbia now observe Columbus Day": https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/why-columbus-day-isnt-really-a-national-holiday/ (b) "as a result of lobbying": https://en. wikiped ia. org/wiki/Columbus Day#H istorv (c) "intense lobbying" https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus-day

Thank you very much for your time on this­Reid Reichardt

----- Original message -----From: Tracy Sheldon <tsheldon@cityofslt.us>

1

To: Reid <reid@fastmail.net> Subject: RE: KeepTahoeTrue.org Inquiry Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2018 08:51:22 -0700

Hi Reid,

Thank you for your response. I was going to include the information below in the staff report to council for the April 3 rd

council meeting. Just let me know if there is any additional information you would like me to include.

TrClCtj sVieL~OV\, (Fretll\,f-x.Ltll\,) Communications Manager, City of South Lake Tahoe 1901 Airport Road, South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 Phone: (530) 542-6093 Cell : (530) 318-9782

Website - Facebook - Twitter - lnstaqram - You Tube

From: Reid [mailto:reid@fastmail.net] Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 7:37 AM To: Tracy Sheldon Subject: Re: KeepTahoeTrue.org Inquiry

Hi Tracy, Just following up on this ... Are there any questions I can answer for you? Thank you, Reid

----- Original message ----­From: Reid <reid@fastmail.net> To: Tracy Sheldon <tsheldon@cityofslt.us> Subject: Re: KeepTahoeTrue.org Inquiry Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2018 08:28:57 -0700

Hi Tracy,

Thank you for your email. I'm out of town visiting family until this Sunday. I'd be happy to answer any questions via email before then , or to discuss in person any time after that.

1) Before speaking to the City Council in February, I dropped off a letter/transcript at the Washoe Tribal headquarters in Gardnerville, and then emailed the Tribal Council members listed at: https://www.washoetribe.us/contents/organization/tribal-council However, these attempts to reach out to the Washoe Tribe went unanswered .

I was originally hoping to get the Washoe Tribe's input on the name "Indigenous Peoples Day". But after not receiving a reply to my letter+emails, and after also realizing the complications that would be created by SL T adopting a name other than what all these other California cities are adopting, I moved forward with IPD.

2) Soon I'll add a faq page to the website. Maybe it will answer some of your questions ... you can see a preview here: https://keeptahoetrue.org/faq.php

2

3) I'm aware that the City Council recently emailed a survey to some/select SL T residents. I really don't think that's the way to make a decision on this issue. Many (very likely most) people are simply not well informed about the facts surrounding this issue, and any decision based on simple majority input would really not be fair. While it might relieve the council members of the burden of taking responsibility for the decision , it puts SL Tat risk of becoming "the city+residents that rejected IPD and/or protected Columbus Day". That would be a sad and ironic reputation , given our area's history.

Also, the wording of "Do you support adding Indigenous Peoples Day to the calendar as well as keep Columbus Day on the City of South Lake Tahoe calendar" might initially appear to be a "best of both worlds" solution to the average/uninformed reader. But given what we now know, the absurdity of celebrating Columbus Day would only be amplified by simultaneously celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day-- like simultaneously celebrating Adolph Hitler and Jewish People on the same day.

Anyway, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions via email , or to speak in person after Sunday.

Thank you, Reid Reichardt

Subject: KeepTahoeTrue.org Inquiry From: Tracy Sheldon <tsheldon@cityofsly.us>

Hi Reid - The City Manager has assigned me to research Indigenous Peoples Day and present a staff report to city council at the April 3, 2018 City Council meeting. Are you available to discuss over the phone or in person or via email? I want to include information from your group in the staff report. Also, do you have a name and contact info with the Washoe Tribe? Thank you!

Sent via : 71.9.105.171 on 03/12/18 at 5:05:28pm Troubleshooting info: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/580.3029.110 Safari/537.36 Edge/16.16299

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Attachment 3

Survey results

City of South Lake Tahoe

01 Have you heard of Indigenous People's Day?

ANSWER CHOICES

Yes

No

TOTAL

Yes

No

Answered : 595 Skipped: 1

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1 I 1

RESPONSES

73.78%

26.22%

Survey Monkey

439

156

595

City of South Lake Tahoe Survey Monkey

02 Do you support replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day in the City of South Lake Tahoe?

Yes

No

ANSWER CHOICES

Yes

No

TOTAL

Answered: 594 Skipped: 2

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1 I 1

RESPONSES

36.70%

63.30%

218

376

594

City of South Lake Tahoe SurveyMonkey

Q3 Do you support adding Indigenous People's Day to the calendar as well as keep Columbus Day on the City of South Lake Tahoe calendar?

Yes

No

ANSWER CHOICES

Yes

No

TOTAL

Answered: 591 Skipped: 5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1 I 1

RESPONSES

27.92%

72.08%

165

426

591

Attachment 4

Draft Resolution

CITY OF SOUTH LAKE TAHOE RESOLUTION NO. ----

A RESOLUTION RELATING TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY; DECLARING THE SECOND MONDAY IN OCTOBER AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY IN THE CITY

OF SOUTH LAKE TAHOE; ENCOURAGING OTHER INSTITUTIONS TO RECOGNIZE THE DAY; AND REAFFIRMING THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO

PROMOTE THE WELL-BEING AND GROWTH ... .

WHEREAS, the City of South Lake Tahoe recognizes that the Indigenous Peoples of the lands that would later become known as the Americas have occupied these lands since time immemorial; and

WHEREAS, the City recognizes the fact that Lake Tahoe is built upon the homelands and villages of the Indigenous Peoples of this region , without whom the building of the City would not have been possible; and

WHEREAS, the City values the many contributions made to our community through Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, labor, technology, science, philosophy, arts and the deep cultural contribution that has substantially shaped the character of the City of South Lake Tahoe; and

WHEREAS, the City of South Lake Tahoe has a responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards Indigenous people in the United States, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education , and social crises; and

WHEREAS, the City promotes the closing of the equity gap for Indigenous Peoples through policies and practices that reflect the experiences of Indigenous PeopJes, ensure greater access and opportunity, and honor our nation's indigenous roots, history, and contributions; and

WHEREAS, Indigenous Peoples' Day was first proposed in 1977 by a delegation of Native Nations to the United Nations sponsored International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas; and

WHEREAS, in 2011 the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, representing 59 Tribes from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California, Western Montana and some Alaskan Tribes, passed resolution #11-57 to "Support to Change Columbus Day (2nd Monday of October) to Indigenous Peoples' Day; and

NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South Lake Tahoe does hereby resolve as follows:

Section 1. The City of South Lake Tahoe strongly supports the proposition that Indigenous People's Day shall be an opportunity to celebrate the thriving cultures and values of the Indigenous PeopleA of our region.

Section 2. The City of South Lake Tahoe encourages other businesses, organizations, and public institutions to recognize Indigenous People's Day.

Section 3. The Mayor and City Council of the City of South Lake Tahoe jointly declare the second Monday in October as Indigenous People's Day in the City of South Lake Tahoe.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of South Lake Tahoe at a regular meeting of the City Council on by the following vote:

AYES: Councilmember(s): -------------------

NOES: Councilmember(s): -------------------

ABSENT: Councilmember(s): -------------------

ABSTAIN: Councilmember(s): -------------------

ATTEST:

Susan Alessi , City Clerk

By: _________ ~

Wendy David , Mayor