PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council will consult with the Lower Elwha and other tribes about establishing an Indigenous People’s Day.
But it won’t fall on Oct. 12, 2015. That’s the next Columbus Day, an iconic annual event for Americans of Italian descent, including Port Angeles Mayor Dan Di Guilio.
“I’ll be very up front about that,” he said during a City Council discussion Tuesday.
Di Guilio supported an observance of Native American heritage on another day, perhaps sharing June 21 with the Canadian National Aboriginal Day marked by that country’s first nations. The day coincides with the summer solstice.
The Lower Elwha Klallam, the Port Gamble S’Klallam and the Jamestown S’Klallam all have strong ties with Salish bands on Vancouver Island.
Arlene Wheeler, Lower Elwha tribal planning director, urged the council to adopt an Indigenous People’s Day during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
She was echoed by Councilwoman Sissi Bruch, a Lower Elwha planner.
“To me, it feels like it would be respectful and inclusive,” Bruch said.
“Celebrating Native Americans would help us as a city.”
Bruch originally had brought it up for discussion in October, after the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to call the federal Columbus Day holiday by the name of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
While he endorsed the idea, Councilman Brad Collins warned against abandoning Columbus Day.
Collins called the second Monday in October “an important day for Italian Americans and other people celebrating European people’s coming to the New World.”
Collins and members of the city staff will represent Port Angeles in the discussions about establishing the day.
The celebration could come in sync with a three-day observance of the final removal of the Elwha River dams planned for this summer.
