The city of Gainesville celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday with a declaration, song and gifts during a ceremony at City Hall. 

This is the fourth year Gainesville has celebrated the holiday and Sylvia Paluzzi, who works with the Indigenous Peoples’ Task Force, said Gainesville remains the only city to celebrate the day in Florida.  

The event started with two flute pieces by Silvestre Hernandez Reyes—one from North America and the other from South America.  

“I like to play both South American and North American [music] because we are all American people, we’re all indigenous people,” Reyes said.  

Mayor Harvey Ward read the proclamation officially designating the day within the city of Gainesville, and he presented a copy to Duane Whitehorse.  

Whitehorse gave his background with the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma and the history of how his great-grandfather was imprisoned in Florida, leading him to travel here as well.  

“I followed so I could go to where my great grandfather was and do some prayers,” Whitehorse said. “The court allowed me to go in and do my prayer ceremonies where my great grandfather was imprisoned.” 

Whitehorse and his wife and son sang a song written for his great-grandfather. They also presented gifts to local officials.  

The Kiowa always leave something behind when they receive something, Whitehorse said. Even if someone takes a tree limb to make an arrow or spear, he said they sprinkle tobacco and leave prayer.  

Ward, former Mayor Lauren Poe, City Manager Cynthia Curry, Commissioner Bryan Eastman, Commissioner Ed Book and former Commissioner Hellen Warren all received blankets from the Whitehorse family.  

“The city of Gainesville and the mayor have extended acknowledgments to the Native Americans, and I’m here to shake hands with them and thank them,” Whitehorse said. 

Paluzzi also received a blanket. She said the adoption of Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been slow over the years, but since President Joe Biden recognized the day, she said the uptake has grown. Biden is the first president to recognize the holiday in 2021.  

She said the work to have Florida adopt the holiday has only been in talks up to now, without any formal actions.  

The second Monday has undergone a transformation over the past decades, transitioning from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day for some and nothing at all for others. The Pew Research Center published a summary of the changes and locations last week.    

In Ohio, the city of Columbus now acknowledges Indigenous Peoples’ Day while Columbus, Georgia, has kept the holiday in recognition of its namesake.