Indigenous Peoples Day: Randall’s Island plays host to celebration of Native American culture through song and dance

Native Americans celebrated their heritage on Indigenous Peoples’ Day with an emotional ceremony on Randall’s Island Monday.

Solemn song and drumbeats blended with the gentle sound of the Harlem River licking at the bank of Randall’s Island on Oct. 9. Here, indigenous people traveled from across the country to perform a ceremony in which natives poured water from their land into the river. Lamenting colonialism and the resulting loss of life, participants wept while chanting and performing traditional dances.