Young and old dance in the Grand Entry at Moorhead’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day pow wow Monday. (Photos/Nancy Hanson.)

Moorhead residents and their neighbors from Fargo and the area came together Monday to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day – the first to be held statewide across Minnesota. The bill creating the holiday was sponsored by Minnesota District 4-A Rep. Heather Keeler.
The city instituted its own day in place of what was formerly known as Columbus Day in 2019. Fargo’s first was in 2015; Grand Forks followed suit in 2020.
Hundreds attended the powwow on Monday evening at Moorhead High School, which featured several traditional drums (singing and drumming groups) from around the area. The event, which began with a free meal of fry bread tacos, was sponsored by Moorhead Indian Education and its counterpart in Fargo/West Fargo.
Both Fargo and Moorhead scheduled educational events, while many school classrooms also brought the stories of North America’s original residents into focus. Sponsors included the City of Moorhead Human Rights Commission, the Fargo Native American Commission, and the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County. It was organized by the Indigenous Association.
The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County’s exhibit “Ihdago Manipi: Clay County at 150” was a centerpiece of the day’s events, along with a tipi display and presentation at NDSU. Dr. Emily Sergeant of the White Earth Nation and Whitney Johnson, a mental health nurse practitioner of the Oglala Lakota Oyate, presented a talk entitled “Decolonized Healing Approaches for Intergenerational Trauma.”