On the Second Monday of October (this year, Monday, October 12th, 2026), we celebrate alongside many communities, Indigenous Peoples' Day. At Dartmouth, the Native American Council recognizes Indigenous Peoples' Day through reflection, advocacy, programming, and community engagement throughout the months of October and November.

In 2026, beginning September 30th, view banners and images in the Brickway of Baker-Berry. A trivia slideshow in Baker library and in Collis 303C will be running throughout October. From October 9th through October 16th, see tribal flags hanging in the Collis Atrium and lightpole banners around the Green. Enjoy Indigikitchen recipes at Dartmouth Dining’s Harvest Fest on October 14th.

We begin National Day of Truth and Reconciliation also known as Orange Shirt Day, commemorated on September 30th. As the Orange Shirt Society writes, “September 30th was chosen for Orange Shirt Day – Every Child Matters because it is the time of year in which children were historically taken from their homes and their families to Indian residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It is an opportunity for Indigenous peoples, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.” 

Orange Shirt Day Beading Drop-in 

Tuesday, September 29th

Collis 303, 2:00PM – 5:00PM

Join the Native American Program to bead pins and earrings to wear on Orange Shirt Day. Beading kits from Sundaylace Creations will be available. No experience with beadwork? No worries! We will help you with the basics.

NAD Orange Shirt Day T-Shirt Making

Tuesday, September 29th 

Collis Commonground, 7:00PM – 10:00PM

Join Natives at Dartmouth for annual orange shirt day t-shirt making to commemorate National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. First come, first serve for supplies.

NAD Orange Shirt Day Tabling

Wednesday, September 30th 

Collis Atrium 

Join Natives at Dartmouth for their annual tabling as they raise awareness for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. 

Building Community in Nature

Friday, October 9th
Meet at Robinson Hall at 3:30PM

Join the Native American Program’s Carley Malloy and Outdoor Programs’ Willow Nilsen for a guided walk and discussion through Pine Park. Learn more about the non-human communities around us, and how plants and trees have provided food sources and remedies throughout their existence. We will discuss how globalization has impacted communities throughout the Northeast, and within the Upper Valley.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day with Natives at Dartmouth
Monday, October 12th
The Green, 12:00PM

Join Natives at Dartmouth for an annual demonstration on the Green. Students, staff, and faculty gather for a silent demonstration and brief readings.

Dartmouth Charter Lunch and Learn
Tuesday, October 13th
The LINK: Baker-Berry Library, Berry 180, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Join the Native American Program and Dartmouth Dialogues to learn more about Dartmouth's founding charter and Mohegan member Samson Occom. Dartmouth Community members are welcome to join. Lunch will be served. RSVP linked here.

Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band  Performance

Wednesday, October 14th

Performance: Spaulding Auditorium, 7:30PM

Learn more about the performance and purchase tickets here.

Healing Across the Diaspora: Queer Indigeneity
Thursday, October 15th
Collis 212, 12:00PM

Hosted by LCHC, QHC, and the Native American Program

A listening circle on queerness, Indigenous and Native experience, and life at Dartmouth across the Diaspora. Where do our identities take root? What does it mean to belong when we carry multiple ways of being? Come listen, share, and heal in community.

Indigenous Peoples’ Fashion Show
Thursday, October 15th
Hood Museum, Russo Atrium, 8:00–9:00PM

Join this annual celebration of Indigenous fashion, creativity, expression, and design. This program is co-sponsored by Natives at Dartmouth, Hokupa'a, the Native American Program, and the Hood Museum of Art.

Forgotten Founder Screening
Friday, October 16th and Saturday, October 17th
Loew Theater, 7:00PM & 1:00PM

This event is free, but registration is required.

This new documentary uncovers the history of Mohegan minister and educator Samson Occom, whose fundraising efforts were instrumental in Dartmouth's founding. Co-directed by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, a direct descendant of Occom, and filmmaker Signe Taylor, this new documentary uncovers the largely erased history of Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister, educator and Indigenous intellectual whose fundraising efforts were instrumental in the founding of Dartmouth College. Despite his central role, Occom's contributions—and the promises made to Native communities—were minimized or omitted from the historical record. Weaving together past and present through an intimate, intergenerational lens, the film features three of Occom's descendants—two as interview participants and one portraying Occom on screen—creating a rare dialogue between history, memory and lived experience. Through Indigenous voices, archival materials and embodied performance, Forgotten Founder explores legacy, accountability and survival. As the United States continues to reflect on its 250th anniversary, the film arrives at a critical moment. In an era when history itself is fiercely contested, Forgotten Founder calls for a fuller, more honest reckoning with America's origins—one that acknowledges Indigenous presence, contribution and resilience, and insists that these stories be restored to the center of our national memory.

Film Runtime: 28min. Discussion and panel follows.

Participatory Mapping for Defending Territory with Dr. Sarah Kelly
Monday, October 26th 
Collis 303, 5:30PM

Led by Dr. Sarah Kelly, participants will learn about how to conduct participatory mapping for territorial defense. No prior experience with maps is needed. The workshop will cover mapping techniques (artistic and technical) as well as how maps can be part of collaborative research efforts to support Indigenous rights recognition in legal and administrative proceedings. 

Dr. Sarah Kelly is a geographer who conducts community-based research on water and energy equity. Sarah lectures in the Geography Department and leads the Energy Justice Clinic at Dartmouth. She holds long-term research relationships with Mapuche-Williche communities in Chile, where she has investigated hydropower, cultural cartography, and Indigenous rights. Sarah works with communities to produce maps and expert reports on Mapuche geography for Chilean and international legal proceedings. She participates in a community of practice in South America on Indigenous Cartographies run out of the Universidad de Nuur in Bolivia. She practices deep mapping collaborations for river protection and stewardship locally and internationally.

American Men: A Conversation on Identity and Modern Masculinity

Wednesday, October 28th

Still North, 6:00PM – 7:30PM

Join the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and the Native American Program for a book talk and conversation with American Men author Jordan Ritter Conn and Ryan King (Mohawk). A deeply intimate portrait of the lives of four men that examines – in profound and comprehensive ways – what it means to be a man in America. AMERICAN MEN is a journalistic account of the lives of four men from vastly different backgrounds and experiences, charting how each of them construct their relationship to masculinity, and how they navigate that relationship over time. A collaboration of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and the Native American Program.

Three Sisters Festival
Sunday, November 1st
Collis Common Ground, 2:30–4:00PM

Late Night at Rauner: The Story of Ada Blackjack
Tuesday, November 3rd
Rauner Special Collections Library, 6:30PM

Join the NAP, Hood Museum, Dartmouth Libraries, and the Institute of Arctic Studies in learning more about Ada Blackjack with the display’s curator, Maya Razvi.