(Describer) Title: All About the Holidays. Each letter in 'holidays' has a different colorful pattern. Pages of a calendar turn.

(male narrator) August 9 is Indigenous Peoples Day. It was created by the United Nations in 1994 to honor the 400 million people around the world who make up over 5,000 native groups in 90 countries. "Indigenous" is another word meaning "native." There is no single definition of what makes a group indigenous, but they maintain close ties to their ancestral land and traditions. Some Americans celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday in October, instead of Columbus Day. That's because when Christopher Columbus and other Europeans came to the Americas, there were already people living here for thousands of years. They deserve a celebration too. While indigenous peoples total only about 6% of the world's population today, they hold 20% of the Earth's land and speak thousands of languages. Tribes work hard to pass laws that protect their native environments. You've probably heard of Australia's Aborigines, the Inuit in the Arctic regions, and the Zulu in South Africa. In the United States, the Navajo and Cherokee are the largest tribes, with thousands of members. There are many smaller groups, including some with few members left. Indigenous Peoples Day remembers the wonderful contributions native peoples have made, their customs and culture, languages, stories and inventions, and their roots in the many regions so many different people share today.

(Describer) Title:

Who are the indigenous people native to your region?

(Describer) Funding to purchase and make this educational program accessible was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Contact the Department of Education by telephone at 1-800-USA-LEARN, or online at www dot ed dot gov.