First Light is praising the City of St. John’s for renaming today’s civic holiday as National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The holiday was formerly known as Discovery Day, St. John’s Day, and The June Holiday.
The city recently voted to approve the new name for the holiday. Many other municipalities also give their staff the day off.
Action Circle Coordinator with First Light, Jordan Lawrence, says it was a “wonderful” decision by council to move to a name that he believes is more inclusive of the city’s shared history.
Lawrence doesn’t believe the name should be localized further, to recognize specific groups such as the Beothuk because the name as it stands celebrates all Indigenous peoples who have occupied the land.