IEA Offices Closed for Indigenous Peoples Day

Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes the Indigenous communities that have lived in the Americas for thousands of years. The day honors Native Americans, their resilience and their contributions to U.S. society in the face of generations of assimilation, discrimination and genocide.

For many Indigenous peoples, Columbus Day is a controversial holiday. This is because Columbus is viewed not as a discoverer, but rather as a colonizer. His arrival led to the forceful taking of land and set the stage for widespread death and loss of Indigenous ways of life.