Indigenous Peoples Day gains momentum

Some states celebrate along with, or in place of, Columbus Day

TORRINGTON — While the city is poised to celebrate one of the region’s largest Columbus Day celebrations on Friday, other organizations have adopted a different perspective on the October holiday.

A trend to include Indigenous Peoples Day observances in addition to Columbus Day has spread both nationally and regionally.

Vermont now celebrates Indigenous People’s Day as does Durham, N.H., Lancaster, Pa., and five other states, according to the National Museum of the American Indian.

In a timely date for the presentation, the Torrington Historical Society at 192 Main St. will host American Indian expert Lucianne Lavin from the Institute for American Indian Studies at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17. She is the organization’s director of research and collections.

Lavin thinks residents can celebrate “ethnic roots on the same day” as Columbus Day. She also broached what some may consider a controversial opinion by suggesting Italian-Americans should consider honoring a different ancestor: Giovanni da Verrazzano.

“Columbus never set foot in North America. The closest he got was Haiti and the tip of South America,” Lavin said.

Verrazzano, on the other hand, explored much of the North American east coast in 1554, Lavin said. He traveled from North Carolina up to Maine, records show, and was the first European to reach New York.

Representatives of the Torrington chapter of UNICO, sponsor of the Columbus Day celebration, could not be reached for comment about suggestions that two holidays, one for Native Americans and another for Italian-Americans, could be held side by side.

However, the president of a New York City organization told The Associated Press in 2017 why he objected to the idea.

“We had a very difficult time in this country for well over a hundred years,” said Basil Russo, president of the Order Italian Sons and Daughters of America. “Columbus Day is a day that we’ve chosen to celebrate who we are. And we’re entitled to do that just as they are entitled to celebrate who they are.”

Conversely, the national American Indian museum, part of the Smithsonian, explains why the Columbus Day celebration is difficult for indigenous people to consider as a national holiday.

“In the forefront of the minds of many Native people throughout the Western Hemisphere ... is the fact the colonial takeovers of the Americas, starting with Columbus, led to the deaths of millions of Native people and the forced assimilation of survivors,” the museum notes on its website.

The recognition of Indigenous People’s Day may continue to spread to other states and municipalities. But while Lavin doesn’t think Connecticut will adopt it as a parallel holiday to Columbus Day, she hopes Italian-Americans understand that “it’s not an ethnic thing” to consider a day to recognize the original inhabitants of the land later known as North America.

Institute for American Indian Studies An exhibit at the Institute for American Indian Studies, in Washington, recreates an “elongated wigwam” that would have been seen in the Northeastern U.S. by European explorers.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo The Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington.

Contributed photo / Janet Serra The Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington began rebuilding its 16th-century replicated Algonkian village. In August, volunteers and members attended a workshop to see the reconstruction, using authentic tools and materials.