On Monday, Riverfront Park will become a hub of education and resources focusing on Indigenous culture, stories, healing and resistance.Salem-based nonprofit Indigenous Now is hosting its 7th annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration, a free event which will feature Indigenous speakers, dancers and vendors sharing information and resources. The theme remains the same as the last several years, said organizer Hannah Shooting Bear, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “My theme is still the same: resistance is existence, and existence is resistance,” she said. “And the youth are saying, ‘Don’t change it until we see change.’”The event will be Monday, Oct. 14, from 1-6 p.m. at the Gerry Frank Amphitheater located at 200 Water St. N.E. Keizer Indigenous Peoples Day celebration On Saturday, Oct. 12, Radness Ensues is hosting an Indigenous Celebration at 3837 River Rd. N. from 1-6 p.m. ahead of the holiday. It will include guest speaker Steven Barrios, an art raffle, traditional food and free activities. Learn more here. Shooting Bear said that she hopes to bring attention to major issues, including missing and murdered Indigenous women in the U.S. and Canada. Despite making up the smallest portion of the U.S. population, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders made up the second-highest number of reported missing people in 2018, with 9,914 reports, according to a report by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.Shooting Bear said she also seeks to continue bringing attention to defending The Indian Child Welfare Act, a 1978 law which was enacted to address the systematic removal of Indigenous children from their communities through adoption to non-Indigenous families. It was challenged, and ultimately upheld, in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.  “We want to make sure everybody understands what ICWA is, in case this comes up in the future again. We’re hoping it doesn’t, but just in case, you never know, we want to be prepared,” she said.Monday’s speakers will share their perspectives on the theme of resistance. They include an elder from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, who will be the first ever out-of-state speaker at the Salem event, Shooting Bear said.  “He brings a lot of knowledge,” she said, and will likely speak about issues of prejudice and racism. “I’m bringing him out here so people can understand that our reservations are third world, and yet we’re out here helping other people when we have to earn to just have decent homes.”The elder works with other elders on his reservation to teach young people the old ways, Shooting Bear said.  “A lot of our elders are passing away. And to me, elders are chapters of a book. And if you listen to these stories they talk about, it’s interesting how they grew up, how the history was,” she said. “I want people to understand that listening to our elders is the most important part of our culture because they’re the ones with the wealth of knowledge, wisdom, stories that were told by their own grandmothers and grandfathers.”Youth from Salem’s Latinos Unidos Siempre will also speak at the event, Shooting Bear said. Other speakers plan to focus on missing and murdered Indigenous women, labor issues and other topics. There will be 28 vendors at Monday’s event, a record for the Salem gathering. There will be a silent auction and raffle to help fund next year’s event.The children’s table will return this year, offering free books about Native history alongside arts and crafts. There will also be Indigenous dances, and a drum group will hold a ceremony for an elder. Supporting groups include Punx With Purpose who will have snacks, and refreshments from the Willamette Health Council. There will be a pastry vendor. Marion County will provide free HIV testing. The virus disproportionately affects Native Americans, who have twice the rate of new cases per population than white Americans, according to the U.S. Department of Human Services.Monday’s event is the biggest of the year for Indigenous Now, which officially became a nonprofit this summer, Shooting Bear said. A major goal of the nonprofit is to provide a community and connections to resources for Indigenous people in the Willamette Valley from all tribes and nations. Shooting Bear plans to continue to advocate for school district and state officials to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a paid holiday for their employees. She said that some of last year’s dancers couldn’t make it this year because of work.  “Why do they need to work when today is our day? We only have 31 days out of 365 days to educate and advocate for our people,” she said, including Native American Heritage Month in November. “But we’re Indigenous every day.” Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Salem’s 7th Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration to focus on resistance appeared first on Salem Reporter.