Indigenous People's Day (IPD) is a growing movement throughout the United States of America that is officially changing the holiday of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day (or having them exist side-by-side) in thirty-six states and over a hundred municipalities.

What began in 1977 at the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva, has steadily grown as a national movement for the recognition of Indigenous People.

Since 2020, Alliance for a Viable Future (AVF) has gained significant attention as the official organizers of Indigenous People's Day (IPD) in Berkshire County, MA. Building on this success, our mission is to coordinate IPD events in cities throughout the Northeast.

In 2022 & 2023, our IPD weekend included indigenous peacemaking councils with more than forty participants, hosted by the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Our goals are to foster interpersonal and inter-tribal relationships and alliances between community members and non-native allies in order to work together to envision and build partnerships for our collective future.

These programs include facilitate conversations; fire and tree-planting ceremonies; a public in person public event titled "Honoring Native America," with indigenous speakers, music, and storytelling at the historic Mahaiwe Theater; a public live-stream panel called "Listening Deeply: Indigenous Voices" with the council participants sharing their wisdom with the Kripalu community; and the annual Ceremonial Walk and Prayer to the Housatonic River on Main Street in Great Barrington.

These programs are particularly poignant because AVF sponsors groups of community members from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians known as the "People of the water that are never still" to visit their ancestral homelands, here in the Berkshires, after their forced relocation to Wisconsin in the early 1800s. For many, this trip is the first time that they are able to visit the lands of their ancestors.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Day annual weekend program draws hundreds of participants and generates momentum and engagement around AVF's two other core programs - the Berkshire Climate Leadership Collaborative and the Mohican Homecoming Project. Please visit our extensive video library to experience these memorable events yourself!