Today, according to proclamations issued by President Joe Biden, is both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day. The latter used to be somewhat of an outlier, only referenced and celebrated in the most liberal of states and cities, but has now been raised to national prominence. So to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day I'd like to reflect on how far we as a nation have come over the past few decades in adjusting our outlook towards Native Americans. Progress has indeed been made, and by historical standards, rather swift progress at that. Don't get me wrong -- we've still got a long way to go -- but it is worth celebrating the steps we have managed to take.

Biden issued two official proclamations, one for Columbus Day and one for Indigenous Peoples' Day. Even in the text of the Columbus one, Biden acknowledges that Christopher Columbus may have been a bold explorer, but he also ushered in what can truly only be called genocide. After noting the historic journey of Columbus and praising Italian-American contributions to this country over our whole history, the proclamation interjects some necessary context:

Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities. It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past -- that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them. For Native Americans, western exploration ushered in a wave of devastation: violence perpetrated against Native communities, displacement and theft of Tribal homelands, the introduction and spread of disease, and more. On this day, we recognize this painful past and recommit ourselves to investing in Native communities, upholding our solemn and sacred commitments to Tribal sovereignty, and pursuing a brighter future centered on dignity, respect, justice, and opportunity for all people.

In commemoration of Christopher Columbus's historic voyage 529 years ago, the Congress, by joint resolution... has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as "Columbus Day." Today, let this day be one of reflection -- on America's spirit of exploration, on the courage and contributions of Italian-Americans throughout the generations, on the dignity and resilience of Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, and on the work that remains ahead of us to fulfill the promise of our Nation for all.

The Indigenous Peoples' Day proclamation goes into a bit more detail about this "painful past," to provide even more necessary context:

Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures -- safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations. On Indigenous Peoples' Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government's trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.

Our country was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people -- a promise that, despite the extraordinary progress we have made through the years, we have never fully lived up to. That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began. For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples' resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society. We also recommit to supporting a new, brighter future of promise and equity for Tribal Nations -- a future grounded in Tribal sovereignty and respect for the human rights of Indigenous people in the Americas and around the world.

To state the obvious, this is all extraordinarily different that what the previous president celebrated on this particular day. In fact, it wasn't just him; that sentence should properly read: "...all previous presidents...." Joe Biden is the first sitting United States president to ever issue such a proclamation.

Columbus statues have come down across the country in the past few years (although thousands still remain), as modern Americans take a much closer look at his actual history, instead of the watered-down and Bowdlerized version of it we all learned in elementary school. At the same time, Native Americans have become increasingly respected in American culture, so it's not too surprising that the national government is finally treating them with some of the dignity and respect they've always really been entitled to -- the truly surprising part is that it took so long.

We have taken incremental steps, but recently these steps seem to have gotten bigger. The federal department created to oversee relations with Native American tribes, now known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs), has been headed by a Native American since 1977. But now -- for the first time in history -- a Native American is serving in Joe Biden's cabinet: Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. So now not only is the federal bureau run by a Native American, but that person's boss is also a Native American. That is a significant milestone.

I first wrote about Native Americans 14 years ago, in an article inspired by an idea my wife had. It was called "Native Americans, Inc." and proposed (at least half-seriously) that a company be formed by all the Native tribes across the country, and then this company would charge a yearly fee to any sports team wishing to use a Native American name, logo, imagery, mascot, or whatever else. The key part: the Native Americans would determine the fee -- which would be on a sliding scale, based on offensiveness. So the Kansas City Chiefs would pay less than the Washington football team (for their name) or the Cleveland baseball team (for their logo).

Which is why parts of an article I read today caught my eye. Not only have both Cleveland and Washington now decided to switch, but they're not the only ones -- more and more teams at all levels of sports have been rethinking their names over the past decade or so. But here's what caught my eye:

While changing sports names and mascots may seem like a big deal to fans, it's close to the bare minimum when it comes to addressing the harm done to Native Americans. But this could hopefully pave the way for making an even greater impact.

"It would be really great if the sports teams didn't just change their name, but also offered to start scholarships for Native students or donate to tribes whose land they're playing on to help them with the issues they're dealing with," [Native American comedian Joey] Clift said. "Name-changing is an amazing first step. But it would also be cool if these teams were willing to give monetary compensation to tribes to actually help the healing process."

Clift cites numerous studies and research, including from the American Psychological Association, on the deeply harmful impacts of Native mascots on Native people, and especially youth, who struggle with low high school graduation rates and a Native youth suicide rate that's 2.5 times higher than the overall national average.

"When you only see yourself in the media as a racist caricature, and red face smiling or carrying a tomahawk, and not yourself in contemporary roles and modern society, it causes low self-esteem and it makes you feel like garbage," Clift said. "This is real damage that these teams have caused over decades."

It's time for wealthy sports teams to actively work to repair that long-lasting damage caused by such harmful imagery.

"Money can always help," Clift says, calling on teams that have changed their mascots to consider "donating large sums of money to Native-run nonprofits."

Clift was quoted for this article because he just released a short video on Comedy Central titled: "How To Cope With Your Team Changing Its Native American Mascot" (which, believe it or not, is actually the shorter version -- within the video, the title is: "So Your Sports Team Had To Change Its Name And/Or Mascot Because It Was Offensive To Native Americans"). The article explains: "The satirical animated short film is written and narrated by comedian Joey Clift, an enrolled member of the Cowlitz tribe who grew up on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. Clift, along with an all-Native voice cast, offers cheeky solutions to fans who may miss performing the Tomahawk chop or wearing redface."

It's pretty funny, but it also doesn't hesitate to make its point plain (as that title shows). But Clift has even better advice for everyone today, so I leave any of you wondering what you can do to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day with his words:

"Instead of 'honoring' Native people by using us as sports mascots, I hope more people try to honor Native people by watching all these kickass Native TV shows that are coming out right now, and reading books by Natives, and getting actual Native perspectives on things," Clift said.

Rutherford Falls, the Peacock comedy following two best friends on a neighboring town and reservation, was just renewed for a second season, and Sterlin Harjo's FX on Hulu serious Reservation Dogs, is also coming back for a second installment. Clift has his own show coming up. The Netflix animated series Spirit Rangers, in which he is part of an all-Native writers' room, will begin streaming in 2022.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant