Transcripts

SPEAKER: Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan issued a proclamation this afternoon declaring it Indigenous Peoples' Day in Minnesota. Several cities, including Saint Paul and Minneapolis, celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.

Peggy Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Nation and the first Indigenous statewide elected official. And she spoke to people celebrating at Indian Mounds Park.

PEGGY FLANAGAN: And when we think about Indigenous Peoples' Day, it is not the erasure of another holiday, it is simply saying and acknowledging that we are still here. We are here because of the strength, and we are here because of the resiliency of our ancestors.

And every single day when we get up, when we wake up in the morning and we step into the world as our full, beautiful Indigenous selves, that in and of itself is an act of resilience. And that is what it means to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day to our young people who are on the drum, who are continuing our traditions and our ways, we are so grateful for your leadership and for the fact that you are here.

And the one thing that I want to say, as we are doing this work, and the governor and I are trying to do this work in a different way, we have our Executive Order 1924 that requires that every state agency engage in meaningful consultation with our tribal nations in the state of Minnesota.

[APPLAUSE]

To ensure that we have a government to government relationship that we know and embrace sovereignty, and that we understand the treaties. That our treaties are the Supreme law of the land. And this important fact that too often people think of treaties as simply being for the tribes, these treaties are the treaties of everyone in this land. Minnesota exists because of treaties, and we must never forget that.

SPEAKER: Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan declaring today Indigenous Peoples' Day, speaking at Indian Mounds Park in Saint Paul.