On Tuesday, November 1st, Mayor Jackie Biskupski will be joined by members of the Native American community and other advocates in a ceremony proclaiming November “Native American Heritage Month in Salt Lake City.”
The Mayor will also reaffirm her support—provided in an October 21st letter signed by several U.S. mayors to President Obama—of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s efforts to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on tribal land in North Dakota until completion of a full cultural and environmental review.
“We must recognize the connection all tribes share with one another, and respect the significance all Native Americans place on ancestral territory, even when they are thousands of miles away,” Mayor Biskupski said. “Members of Native American tribes in Salt Lake City are rightfully concerned about the Dakota Pipeline’s impact on sacred cultural sites, as well as climate-change issues caused by a new project devoted to more burning of fossil fuels.”
Native American Heritage Month in Salt Lake City will recognize the endurance, honor, sovereignty, and dignity of the indigenous peoples of North America, as well as the many contributions of Native Americans to national and local businesses, education, politics, arts and culture, military efforts, and more.
Members of Salt Lake City’s Native American community and other advocates of social justice will also attend and provide brief remarks at the ceremony, including:
Yolanda Francisco-Nez: Director of the Mayor’s Office of Diversity and Human Rights and a member of the Dine’ tribe.
Franci Taylor: Executive Director of the University of Utah American Indian Resource Center, a participating member of the Indigenous People’s working group at the United Nations, and a member of the Choctaw Nation.
Kilo Zamora: Chairman of the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission, instructor of social justice courses at the University of Utah, and former executive director of the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice in Salt Lake City.
James Singer: Adjunct professor of sociology courses at Westminster College and Salt Lake Community College, founding member of the Utah League of Native American Voters, and a member of the Dine’ tribe.
Accepting the proclamation from Mayor Biskupski on behalf of Native American peoples will be AshNe’a Anderson, Miss Nataanii for the Adopt a Native Elder Program, a student at Vista Heights Middle School in Saratoga Springs in Utah County, and a member of the Dine’ and Mescalero Apache tribes.
WHAT: “Native American Heritage Month in Salt Lake City” proclamation signing and support statement for Standing Rock Sioux protest
WHEN: Tuesday, November 1st, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: At the Alan Houser statue “May We Have Peace,” on the Northeast corner of Washington Square Park, 400 South and 200 East, Salt Lake City
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