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Today, October 10 is a holiday for both Indigenous People's Day and a celebration of Columbus Day, which traditionally honors the man who "accidentally" founded what is known as North America today.

Although it is not a paid federal holiday, 24 states -- including Oklahoma -- celebrate one or both of the holidays by closing their local, state and federal government offices and all tribal offices. In our listening area, county and city governments are closed although law enforcement, fire departments, and other public safety-related offices continue to operate without interruption.

Indigenous People's Day was first recognized at the federal level in 2021 by the Biden Administration who released a proclamation that the second Monday in October would be known as "Indigenous People's Day" but celebrations of Native American Month, which originally was in November in Oklahoma, have taken place in our state since the 1970s.