Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday that celebrates and raises awareness of the many cultures of Indigenous or Native American peoples across the United States. Museum Nights joins the Gainesville community to celebrate the day all week, and to embrace indigenous peoples from throughout the Americas. Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that Native people are the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. Join us to experience dance, drumming and art by indigenous artists. Other activities, developed by non-Native students, will offer opportunities to reflect on and acknowledge the cultures of indigenous peoples.
About the key image: Camille Seaman was born in 1969 to a Native American (Shinnecock tribe) father and African American mother. Since 2003 Seaman’s work has concentrated on the fragile environments of the polar regions and the increasing phenomena of big storms. As a TED Fellow and speaker (2013, 2019, 2020), she urges us to connect to our surroundings: “I was taught from a very young age that we are connected to everything, that everything has a life force.” Looking at the Icebergs Near Franklin Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica, Dec. 21, 2006 was recently on view in the exhibition AWE-some : time :: materiality :: meaning.