16th Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Observance Goes Virtual

This year marks the 16th annual observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day with a proclamation read by Mayor Lioneld Jordan. This year's recorded proclamation is in lieu of the usual ceremony at the Trail of Tears marker on Martin Luther King Boulevard, where Mayor Jordan has recognized "Indigenous Peoples' of the Americas Day" and the removal routes of Native Americans who passed through Fayetteville, since 2009. This annual recognition is one of the oldest observances of Indigenous Peoples' Day in the United States.

The University of Arkansas first recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2004, based upon the recommendation of Dick Bennett, professor emeritus and founder of the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology.  As part of this annual event, University of Arkansas students and guests have annually made a commemorative walk from the Student Union to the marker commemorating the site where the "Benge Detachment" of Cherokees camped while on the Trail of Tears in 1839.  K'iche' woman and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rigoberta Menchu was special guest during the commemorative walk on October 12, 2015, when Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan gave her the key to the city at the marker site. Our hope is to resume our annual walk next autumn and to raise awareness for the rich and complicated Native American history in Fayetteville.