Source: United Nations (video statements)
On 9 August 1995, a world sacred pipe ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York honored the first-ever International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
At that ceremony, Chief Oren Lyons of the Onondaga Nation, along with Melissa Fawcett of the Mohegan Tribe, delivered powerful messages calling for unity, recognition and Indigenous rights.
Every 9 August, people around the world are encouraged to spread the UN’s message on the protection and promotion of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.