The St. Augustine City Commission voted this week to officially proclaim the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day — the third Florida city that has formally taken the step. The day, which this year falls on October 13, is also recognized federally as Columbus Day.
The proclamation was sponsored by Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline and was approved without discussion as part of the meeting’s consent agenda. A portion of the proclamation reads: “The arrival of European explorers and settlers brought disease, genocide, and slavery to the Americas, and Indigenous peoples increasingly lost access to their ancestral lands and natural resources, which significantly impacted their ability to practice aspects of their cultures and traditions.”
