Roughly five miles from the nation’s largest Christopher Columbus celebration, hundreds gathered Sunday and Monday on Randalls Island to celebrate indigenous people at an event that has become part of a larger conversation about how New York City should honor controversial historical figures.

Though other cities, including Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix and Washington, have designated the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, New York has so far not followed suit. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo marched along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the 75th annual Columbus Day parade on Monday and did not make appearances at the event honoring Native Americans.

“Politicians not showing up, that’s something we’re accustomed to. We’re the side New York seems to have forgotten about,” said Cliff Mattias, the founder of the Indigenous Peoples Day New York City event. “But look around. There’s an eclectic mix of people here. Indigenous. Black people. Anglos, allies from around the world. That makes it special.”