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WHEREAS, Over 4,000 indigenous peoples currently live in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The American Indians' influence is seen throughout the Philadelphia region with the names of our neighborhoods, rivers and streets such as Manayunk, Alleghany, Shawnee, Erie, Cherokee, Wissahickon, Passyunk, Susquehanna, Kingsessing among many others; and
WHEREAS, The group of American Indians known as the Lenape inhabited the Philadelphia area and called the land Coaquonnock meaning the land of tall pines; and
WHEREAS, The Iroquois Confederacy created The Great Law of Peace which many scholars proclaim had profound influence on some of our founding fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, as they developed our own system of government and the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, American Indians developed a highly advanced agricultural system that is still practiced in our nation's farming system, cultivating crops from potatoes, tomatoes, beans, chocolate, corn, pumpkins, and sugarcane among many others; and
WHEREAS, Indigenous Peoples Day commemorates the resilience of American Indians both in the Philadelphia region and throughout the world that who while suffering great adversity maintained and persevered their cultural and ethnic identities; now therefore be it,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby honor and recognize the achievements, traditions and contributions of American Indians, also known as indigenous peoples of the City of Philadelphia and declare October 8, 2011 as Indigenous Peoples Day and every first Saturday of October thereafter as Indigenous Peoples Day.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the Indigenous Peoples Committee of Coaquonnock as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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