Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day — an opportunity to recognize historical injustices and confront the systemic racism that Indigenous people continue to face while also celebrating the heritage, traditions, and resilience of our Native communities.

In Silver Spring, I live on the land of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan) people. If you don’t know already, I encourage everyone to do some research today about the Indigenous people of your area. You can use this map as a first step.

Here in Maryland, we still do not officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a state holiday. As governor, I will support efforts in the state legislature to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a small, but critical step towards recognizing the injustices and racism of colonialism.

As a former social studies teacher, today is also a strong reminder of how important it is to teach a complete and accurate history of the United States — including ensuring our students are learning about Native American history. Early American history education that focuses only on the Europeans who colonized the United States is an incomplete history when it does not include the history of our state’s original inhabitants. As governor, I will advocate for classrooms across the state to provide sufficient attention to Maryland’s rich, diverse indigenous history.

On this day, I hope you join me in taking a moment to read, learn about, and appreciate the indigenous people in our country.

Thank you,

John B. King