Come Monday, a slate of celebrations will accompany the first official Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana.

Though the state’s tribal members have spent years setting days aside to honor their history, recently passed legislation will mark the second Monday of October as a statewide holiday, with Montana joining a nationwide movement to recognize the first people to live on the American continents.

“It brings attention, and I think that attention is a very positive one knowing that we exist,” said Janine Pease, a Crow woman and founding president of Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency. “We have entire histories, cultures and language.”

“We’re a pluralist society,” she said, “and there’s so much to appreciate about our country.”

Montana is home to 12 tribes and seven reservations a

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