Dane County Board Approves Adding Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an Official Paid Holiday

February 05, 2024
County Board Supervisor Rick Rose, (608) 314-4605
County Board

The Dane County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance amendment codifying Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official county holiday.  Indigenous Peoples’ Day is the second Monday in the month of October.  

Dane County joins a small handful of counties throughout the country that recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official paid holiday.  

The Board also approved a resolution celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  The resolution indicates that the County Board encourages employees to use the proposed holiday to celebrate and recognize indigenous people and work to make the planet a more welcoming place.

“For over 200 years, our country has honored Columbus Day as a holiday in some shape or form. Today, we recognize that the narrative around Columbus is inaccurate.  I was in inspired when four states began to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead, showing respect and honor to our original people.  Then I was further motivated in 2018 when the City of Columbus officially ended its celebration of Columbus and recognized this new holiday.   A year later, Wisconsin dropped one holiday for the other,” said County Board Supervisor Rick Rose (District 16).  “I’m glad that in 2024 we are doing more here in the first county in our state to make the day an official holiday.  We are recognizing that we live on original Ho-Chunk land and their history and heritage is a vital part of Dane County life.”

There are 11 federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin and the land that would later become known as Dane County is located on the ancestral and traditional lands of the Ho-Chunk, Sauk, and Kickapoo nations.