Today, Oct. 9, is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. A day for recognizing the true history of Indigenous Americans, and, more importantly, celebrating their survival, perseverance and joy. But despite that, I, as an Indigenous person, often find myself doing more work and less celebrating on this holiday. 

At my high school, I was one of very few Indigenous American students, with there being less than 10 of us that identified as Native out of a school of more than 2,100. This meant that whenever Native American Heritage Month or Indigenous Peoples’ Day came up, I was the go-to person to talk to for my school newspaper. 

It got to a point where the journalism teacher banned me as a resource because of how many times I had been featured. When this happened, I mostly laughed it off and didn’t take it seriously. Looking back, I’m really grateful that the teacher did that; as much as I loved having Native voices centered, it was tiring for me to have to go through these interviews. 

I had to go into each interview knowing that what I say would be carefully analyzed by students in my school because I was the only Native student they used as a source. This put even more pressure on me. I already had the difficult task of explaining our cultural trauma and listing examples of racism at our school. 

I knew my audience wouldn’t always be the most open either. My high school had mostly white students, and our mascot (the Westlake “Warriors”) was based in racist stereotypes about Native people. 

But wait, shouldn’t focusing on Indigenous voices be exactly what non-Native allies should be doing during Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Native American Heritage Month?

In general, the answer is yes. Uplifting Native American voices and experiences is particularly important during nationally recognized holidays, and I’m very happy to have been around people who believed it was important too. 

I don’t want to make it seem like I’m complaining about that. But I want to remind everyone, both non-Native and Native people, the labor intensiveness of advocacy and educational work. I want to focus on this idea of labor because I want Native people to remember to take breaks, and for non-Natives to realize that we need rest from talking about these stressful subjects. 

Native people shouldn’t feel like they have to write new pieces or do another interview just because it’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Our work is already year-round, and the vast majority of the time, we don’t get to choose when we have to speak on Native issues. This makes it all the more important to give ourselves rest at the times that we do have a choice. 

The most mentally taxing experience I’ve had was during my United States History class (a true joy for any minority) in my junior year of high school. Originally, my teacher wanted us to have a debate on whether or not the colonization of the Americas was a genocide or not. I didn’t want this topic to be taught as something “debatable.” 

Through weeks of conversation with my teacher, I eventually convinced her to switch our debate to a Socratic seminar activity to discuss the reality of colonization, for my year and for future years. 

But this isn’t something I want to do. Yes, I want to make sure my people and our history are properly and respectfully taught about, but in an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to do this. There’s already so many resources out there from Native people about how we want to be taught about in schools; my teacher could have easily accessed them. But instead, I had to advocate for myself and my community, a process that took weeks and a lot of work. 

There is no reason for a 16-year-old kid to have to educate her own teacher. I’m choosing to write this article with people like my younger self in mind, because I want someone to say what I wish I heard earlier.

If someone asks you to educate or advocate when you’re burnt out, just refer them to your previous works or other shared resources. You don’t need to feel like you’re the only person who can advocate for yourself or your community. Take some time to breathe and remember, this day is for you.