Family observes Indigenous Peoples’ Day

By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS

The recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a triumph for many and sparks controversy for others. After Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s proclamation in 2021, the Lone Star State officially recognizes both Indigenous Peoples’ and Columbus Day celebrated the same week. As the controversy and differing of opinions continues to brew, a Port Isabel family discusses what this commemoration means to them.

“Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a day of recognition for my people, and on this day especially, we celebrate how proud we are being Native American,” said Port Isabel resident Daniel Adam Warrior whose ancestry is Muskoke (Creek), Absentee Shawnee, and Rosebud Sioux.

“We offer prayers and gratitude for the ancestors that came before us and their difficult journeys that brought us this far in our lives,” he added.

Warrior remarked how people frequently say that the Native American struggle was hundreds of years ago. As is documented in the book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, a work of non-fiction written by journalist David Grann, it’s well established that as late as the 1920s, a group of people planned and almost succeeded in eliminating the entire Osage tribe for their head rights, the rights that made them secure and wealthy due to oil procurement from their lands.

“The spirit-crushing multi-generational trauma that my grandparents and so many of my ancestors had to go through still affects us today,” asserted Warrior. “And still, we not only persist, but so many of us are determined to thrive.”

Warrior is one of the actors in the much-anticipated Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon, based on Grann’s book, which is set for release October 20. When pursuing acting roles, Warrior works toward the positive portrayal of Native Americans. Warrior was raised in the area of Oklahoma where the story is set.

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