Native Americans across the United States will come together on Monday Indigenous Peoples Day To celebrate their history and culture and acknowledge the ongoing challenges they face, many will do so with a focus on the election.

From a Election rally in Minneapolis with food, games and raffles public conversation When it comes to Indigenous Voting at Virginia Tech, the holiday — which occurs about three weeks before Election Day — features a wide range of events aimed at Indigenous mobilization and outreach while clearly recognizing the power of their voices.

More than 200 people registered within hours for the event in Minneapolis, where volunteers handed out T-shirts, stickers and special posters based on designs created by tribal artists from the Onondaga Nation in New York to to the Onondaga Nation in New York, and to the Karuk Tribe in California. The theme was clear: Make voting a tradition.

In 2020, Local voters proved crucial in the presidential election. Voter turnout on tribal lands in Arizona increased dramatically compared to the previous presidential election, helping Joe Biden win in a state that had not supported a Democratic candidate in a White House race since 1996.

Janeen Comenote, executive director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, which is involved in at least a dozen such election rallies across the country, said mobilizing domestic voters is particularly important this year as the country chooses the president. However, she cautioned that Indigenous people are far from a monolith when it comes to how they vote.

“We’re really just interested in getting local voters to vote, not telling them how to vote. But somehow we understand that you have a voice and it is a democracy, a democracy that we helped create,” said Comenote, a citizen of the Quinault Indian Nation.

On Monday, the Democratic National Committee announced a six-figure advertising campaign targeting domestic voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska. A majority of the digital, print and radio advertisements were placed in local and national Native-owned publications.

In Arizona, Comenote’s coalition partnered with the Phoenix Indian Center to hold a town hall meeting on Monday “Democracy is Indigenous: Power of the Indigenous Voice” with speakers and performances as well as indigenous art on the theme of democracy.

Local Navajo artist Richelle Key was commissioned to create a painting during the event. Her vibrant brushstrokes were intended to remind people to “keep our culture alive.” A second painting with the message “Voice for our Future” was also on display.

“It’s important to vote because we don’t want to be forgotten,” Key said.

In Apex, North Carolina, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh, the coalition is working with the Triangle Native American Society on an event that is expected to include a celebration of the Native American Society’s 100th anniversary Indian Citizenship Act 1924 and a booth with nonpartisan voter information and giveaways.

During a celebration in Arizona over the weekend, Walter Murillo, a member of the Choctaw Nation and CEO of Native Health in Phoenix, also spoke about the anniversary of the federal law and the power of Native voters.

“This is especially important in an election year,” he said, noting that activities focused on engaging people, registering them to vote and encouraging them to cast their ballots.

There were also sunrise dances and gatherings to celebrate the day in locations across the country, from the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico to San Francisco, where passengers boarded the ferries bound for there Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz served as a symbol of self-determination after it was taken over in the 1960s by indigenous students who demanded the U.S. government recognize longstanding agreements with tribes.

Although it is not a federal holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day is observed in 17 states, including Washington, South Dakota and Maine, as well as Washington, DC, according to the Pew Research Center. It usually takes place on the second Monday in October, the same day as the federal holiday Columbus Day.

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Associated Press journalists Ross Franklin and Katie Oyan in Phoenix and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.