KVIG Informative

Nevada officially marks Indigenous Peoples Day in August, weeks away from when most tribes and the rest of the country actually observe it. A bill to fix that passed the Legislature last year. The governor vetoed it.

Nevada officially recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day on Aug. 12, rather than the second Monday of October observed by most tribes nationally and by the federal government’s own designation of the holiday.

Assemblywoman Shea Backus, currently the only Indigenous lawmaker in the Nevada Legislature, introduced a bill during the 2025 legislative session to move Nevada’s official observance to the second Monday of October, aligning the state’s recognition with how tribes and Indigenous people actually celebrate the day.

Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed the measure. Backus said she intends to continue pushing to have the date corrected despite the veto.

Nevada’s current August date for the observance does not align with the federal government’s own recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day, creating a split between how the state officially marks the day and how the holiday is recognized nationally and by Nevada’s own tribal nations.

Lombardo lost his bid for reelection to Attorney General Aaron Ford in the Nov. 3 general election, meaning any future legislative attempt to correct the observance date would go to a different governor than the one who vetoed it the first time.

Nevada is home to 27 federally recognized tribes and bands, more than any other state except California and Oklahoma, giving the question of how the state formally recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day direct relevance to a sizable share of Nevada’s Indigenous population.

The bill to fix Nevada’s Indigenous Peoples Day date died with one governor’s veto. The governor who issued that veto is now leaving office. Whether the next attempt to fix the date reaches a different outcome depends entirely on whether Backus brings the bill back — and whether Ford’s desk treats it differently than Lombardo’s did.