The Goshen Theater celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day

GOSHEN, Ind. - The Goshen Theater is celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day with traditional Potawatomi music, dancing and singing. 

The celebration filled the Goshen Theater's lobby, showing the history of Indigenous peoples throughout Goshen, Elkhart, Mishawaka and South Bend. 

Gina Leichty, Goshen's mayor, says the celebration is a commitment to Goshen's diversity and equality. 

To her, it's an opportunity for people to learn from and enjoy the experience of celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day. 

"The goal is to foster better relationships," she said. "If we understand where we've come from, we better understand how we connect with one another and we better understand how to build a connected future."

Goshen's Indigenous Peoples Day also included books written by Native American authors and maps that showing a trail, made by Potawatomi and Miami Native American groups, starting from Fort Wayne to Chicago. 

For Madalene Big Bear, a Potawatomi tribe member, it's important for her and her homeland to have "control of the imagery" in their own story. 

"If everybody is thinking of the true homeland history of America, then that just serves us all for the rest of our own American history," she said.