The state of South Dakota is the only state in the US that celebrates Native American Day instead of Columbus Day. This change took place in 1989 under the leadership of Governor George Mickelson. Here, Frank Night Pipe gives his thoughts about the significance of this change. "Governor Mickelson's efforts at the time, and even today (15 years later), are carrying on. We still honor Governor Mickelson for his efforts towards relations between Natives and non-Natives. Plus, in South Dakota there are 9 Reservations and we make up 10% of the population of the state, so we are a significant part of South Dakota".

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