National Indigenous Peoples Day

This article is about the holiday in Canada. For other uses of the term, see Indigenous Peoples' Day (disambiguation).

National Indigenous People's Day
National Aboriginal Day celebrations at University of the Fraser Valley, 2015
Observed byCanada
Date21 June
Next time21 June 2025 (2025-06-21)
Frequencyannual

National Indigenous Peoples Day (French: Journée Nationale des Peuples Autochtones; formerly National Aboriginal Day)[1] is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Indigenous peoples of Canada.[2]

The day was first celebrated in 1996, after it was proclaimed that year by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc, to be celebrated annually on 21 June. This date was chosen as the statutory holiday for many reasons, including its cultural significance as the Summer solstice, and the fact that it is a day on which many Indigenous peoples and communities traditionally celebrate their heritage. A proposal to rename the day National Indigenous Peoples Day was made in 2017. The bill to make that change (C-369) was still being debated by parliament when the legislature was dissolved.[3] The federal Crown has begun referring to the day as National Indigenous Peoples Day, regardless.[4]

This day has been celebrated as a statutory territorial holiday in the Northwest Territories since 2001 and in Yukon since 2017. It is not however, currently considered a statutory holiday across the rest of the country.[5]

  1. ^ "Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on National Aboriginal Day". Prime Minister of Canada. 21 June 2017.
  2. ^ "National Aboriginal Day History" (PDF). Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Private Member's Bill". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  4. ^ "About National Indigenous Peoples Day". Queen's Printer for Canada. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  5. ^ "National Indigenous Peoples Day | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2020.