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Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations in SF draw thousands from around the world

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Published  October 10, 2022 11:36pm PDT
San Francisco
KTVU FOX 2

Indigenous People's Day celebration at SF's Yerba Buena Gardens

Indigenous People's Day was celebrated at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens on Monday. 2,000 people gathered to celebrate cultures from South America, Europe and Asia.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's Yerba Buena Garden was filled with a celebration of indigenous cultures and sound on Monday, as the city marked Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring the native people who inhabited the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus from Spain.

"It's been 530 years of resistance since he touched on these lands here, so we are celebrating resistance. We're honoring our ancestors," said Rochelle Diver, U.N. Coordinator for the International Indian Treaty Council, "The first path I think to honoring indigenous people is acknowledging truth in history."

The International Indian Treaty Council helped organize the celebration and a native prayer ceremony at sunrise Monday on Alcatraz Island.

"It was an absolutely beautiful morning. A little cold, a little chilly, lots of fog, but the spirit and prayers were all there. It was absolutely beautiful," said Diver.

"Each one of us comes from the earth. We all have traditions, we all have dances, we all have stories and that's where the medicine is at," said Lidia Doniz of San Jose, who is with the Teokalli Aztec Dancers.

"It's Teokalli, in Nahuatl language it means 'house of creation' and we're representing the Aztec people," said Alvaro Tellez, of Mexico City who also performs with the Teokalli Aztec Dancers.

"I am a daughter of a Zapotec indigenous, Oaxaca man from Mexico and our mother is an Incan native from Ecuador," said Inkza Angeles, whose family runs the businesses Xpresion Cultural that features artisans from Central and South America.

The vendors booths showcased indigenous artwork and culture.

"This is a Guatemalan piece and this is from Mexico. This is a medicine pouch and a hairpiece," said Angeles, "Just like the all the other vendors that were here today, all of these are handmade with lots of love and they have a lot of heritage and history."

"It helps remind us of the people who have stewarded this land from time immemorial. It helps us remember our own history so we can go forward in a better way," said Cristina Ibarra, Strategic Partnerships Director for the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.

The celebration was a way to honor cultures across the globe, as well as the Ohlone people who lived on the land here in the Bay Area.

For many who participated, cultural roots run deep and across a common humanity.

"I'm mixed European and Mexican. And through the Mexican side I'm a descendant of the tribe called the Tarahumara...in Chihuahua state," said Patrick Linehan, a San Francisco resident, "Just the music and dance touch something deep down in your soul. You know. It's powerful."