PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Hundreds of people from across the United States and abroad are in the city to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day at a very significant location.
Penn Treaty Park, on the banks of the Delaware River in Fishtown, is where founder of the commonwealth William Penn signed a treaty of peace with the local Lenape tribe in 1683, according to legend. Now, it is known as a place of peace and plays host to an annual celebration of North and South American native cultures.
“The festival consists of shows and stories and teachings of native life and native history,” says Janis Stacy who is with IPD Philly and is one of the event’s organizers.
They welcome natives from Canada to Chile on this day, for the purpose of “countering the idea of Columbus — which came in and started a massive genocide against our people,” Stacy said.
“When we get together, it’s family from all the tribes, from all the nations. All the council fires come together, and we start sharing stories and such.”
Indigenous Peoples Day has been celebrated in this way in Philadelphia since 2017. Philadelphia replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day as an official city holiday in 2021.
Eugene Black Crow, a Lakota raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, was one of the many people who came to celebrate.
“They come and perform, they dance, they sell their wares. I, myself, do bead work and medicine pouches,” said Black Crow.
Black Crow, who is dedicated to preserving the Lakota language and culture, has attended the celebration since 2018.
“I just like sitting here enjoying the people you know. We have people from South America, Central America and North America. We’re all native Americans.”
Stacy, who is of Dakota and Cherokee…
(L-R): Ty “Dancing Wolf” Ellis of the Lenapehopking Reestablishment Project; Ian Marshall, dean of the School of Arts & Humanities; Ryann Casey, exhibition coordinator for the Stockton Art Gallery; Tyrese “Bright Flower” Gould Jacinto of the Nanticoke/Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation; Mariana Smith, associate professor of Art; Terricita Sass, executive vice president and chief of staff for the Office of the President; and Joe Bertolino, president of Stockton University. 
