'This is the first time here that indigenous people have been honored for the culture, for what they've given to society,' Town of Newstead Councilman Justin Rooney said. 12 'Indigenous Peoples Day.' It was quickly followed by the Village of Akron and its school district. The Town of Newstead decided in May to declare Oct.
'I think we all feel really uplifted by this process that the town and the village have started,' Tonawanda Seneca Nation Chief Darwin Hill said. 'There have been strained relationships globally between indigenous peoples and the colonizers, and this is an effort where people work together to accomplish a great objective,' said Luann Jamieson, a Tonawanda Seneca Nation Hawk Clan Mother.
Those gathered at Russell Park say this is no ordinary event, it's history.
