CA state workers could get another paid holiday to celebrate Native American Day
California lawmakers are considering granting state workers an additional paid holiday to celebrate the cultures, achievements and resiliency of the state’s First People
The bill, authored by the Legislature’s first Native American lawmaker, made it past a successful milestone last week when the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a measure to formally observe Native American Day on the fourth Friday in September.
Assemblymember James Ramos, D-Highland, said his legislation is a step toward paying California’s debt to Native families for the genocide waged against this population, the theft of their land and the generations of historical trauma that followed.
“Most Californians know little about the bloody history that built this state,” Ramos said in a statement. “They picture romanticized missions, the Gold Rush, the Transcontinental Railroad, not the genocide, violence, enslavement, and dispossession of Native Americans.”
There are over 100 federally recognized tribes in California today. The region is estimated to have been home to over 300,000 Native people in the late 18th century when European settlers first arrived in California. That population was decimated over the subsequent years due to the spread of diseases and settler violence, according to the California Native American Heritage Commission.
Ramos said that between 1851 and 1859, the California State Controller paid out $1.3 million for military expeditions targeting Native people. Former Gov. Peter Burnett referred to those expeditions as a “war of extermination.”
“And that figure doesn’t begin to capture the loss of life, the enslavement of Native families, the destruction of sacred sites and cultural items, the occupation of homelands, and the countless other atrocities committed against California’s First People,” Ramos said.
Ramos acknowledged that Gov. Gavin Newsom formally apologized for the state’s historical mistreatment of Indigenous people on behalf of his predecessors in 2019, but he noted that the Legislature and the courts have yet to do so.
“A paid holiday honors the First People of the land since Time Immemorial and their many contributions in their chosen field of endeavor,” he said.
Native American Day already elective holiday
Currently, California recognizes Native American Day as one of several elective holidays that state employees can choose to take the day off. Other elective holidays that state workers can pick from include Lunar New Year, Genocide Remembrance Day, Diwali and Juneteenth.
Ramos’ bill would move the holiday celebrating the state’s First People from that list of elective holidays to the list of 11 days that all state employees get off, which includes July Fourth, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, Native American Day lands on Sept. 25.
California’s judicial system already celebrates Native American Day after Columbus Day was removed from the list of observed holidays in 2021 through a bill also authored by Ramos.
Providing state employees with another paid holiday would cost the state $16.3 million each year, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.
This bill would authorize the state to enter into agreements with individual bargaining units to roll out the holiday. It would only go into effect if the California Department of Human Resources determined that the state had sufficient money to fund the paid holiday.
SEIU Local 1000, which represents nearly 100,000 workers, is supportive of giving employees an additional paid holiday.
“Before we can effectively address contemporary issues, we must work to fully acknowledge and tell the truth about our history,” the union wrote in support of the bill. “The struggle of California’s First People is not separate, it is the foundation of every fight for fair wages, safety, and dignity on the job.”
Expanding California’s holidays
Last year, California made Diwali a state holiday. The legislation allows public schools to close on this day and enables government employees to take time off to celebrate the Hindu festival of lights, which is also celebrated by other religions.
This session, the Legislature is considering expanding the list of state holidays even more. Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, authored a bill that would add Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two Islamic festivals, to the list of days that public schools can close. That bill also moved out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week.
California has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country, Haney wrote in support of his bill, and many Muslim students and workers are forced to choose between going to school or work, and observing these holy days.
“By adding Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to California’s list of recognized state holidays, consistent with the state’s existing recognition of observances such as Lunar New Year and Diwali, AB 2017 promotes inclusion, respect, and a stronger sense of belonging for Muslim Californians,” Haney wrote, referring to his legislation.
