Many ditch explorer to honor Native Americans
For many Americans, the second Monday in October is a celebration of Italian heritage and Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage to the Americas. But a growing number of cities, states and universities are replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
At least eight states, 10 universities and more than 130 cities across 34 states now observe Indigenous Peoples Day as an alternative to the federally recognized Columbus Day, which they say glorifies the mistreatment and colonization of Native Americans.
Although Columbus is often credited as being the “discoverer” of the New World, millions of people already inhabited the Americas, and the Vikings had reached North America nearly five centuries earlier. Columbus made four expeditions to the Caribbean and South America over two decades, enslaving and decimating local populations and opening the floodgates of European colonization.
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus may have sailed the ocean blue in 1492, but a growing number of states are choosing to rename his namesake October holiday, instead recognizing the Native Americans who were already living here when he “discovered” America.
Wisconsin, home to 11 recognized tribes, is the most recent to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples Day.
“Through this executive order, we recognize and appreciate our tribal nations and Indigenous people and their resilience, wisdom, and the contributions they make to our state,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a news release. “Native Americans in Wisconsin and throughout our country have suffered unjust treatment – often at the hands of our government – and today is about recognizing that Wisconsin would not be all that it is without Indigenous people.”
On Thursday, Washington, D.C., voted to temporarily change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. If approved by the mayor, the act would go into effect immediately. A permanent change would require approval by Congress.
Maine and New Mexico changed the name in April, and Vermont followed suit in May. Minnesota made the change in 2016, followed by Alaska in 2017 and North Carolina in 2018. South Dakota has been celebrating Native Americans Day since 1990.
“This isn’t a way to erase our history or erase what was done because we want to make sure what happened is taught. But the United States has a history of celebrating people that shouldn’t be celebrated. We shouldn’t celebrate people that have committed genocide,” said Chicago organizer Anthony Tamez-Pochel.
Tamez-Pochel, who is Cree, Lakota, and black, serves as co-president of the Chi-Nations Youth Council, an organization that supports indigenous youth. Tamez-Pochel has been leading the charge to change the name of Columbus Day in Chicago. To draft the pending city ordinance, Tamez-Pochel and others worked with indigenous youth and Caribbean communities that had been directly affected by Columbus.
“For us to celebrate a man who’s done these horrible atrocities against indigenous people, to me, it’s a slap in the face. I understand where the Italian American community is coming from, it gives them a chance to celebrate their heritage, but at the expense of another’s culture,” he said.
In May, however, a northern New
“The United States has a history of celebrating people that shouldn’t be celebrated.” Anthony Tamez-Pochel Co-president of the Chi-Nations Youth Council
Jersey town shut down a proposal to change the name. Many Italian-American heritage groups opposed it, saying it was motivated by “propaganda.”
In April, Oklahoma, which is home to 39 recognized tribes, struck a compromise: Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, the only current governor in the U.S. enrolled as a member of a Native American tribe, signed a bill placing both holidays on the same day.
Similarly, Alabama observes “American Indian Heritage Day” along with Columbus Day. Some cities in New York, Connecticut and Oklahoma also celebrate both holidays.
Many states celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day under a different name or date. California and Nevada celebrate Native Americans Day on the fourth Friday of September, and Tennessee celebrates American Indian Day on the fourth Monday of September.
In Hawaii, the same day is known as Discoverers’ Day, to recognize the Polynesian discoverers of the Hawaiian Islands.
Columbus Day celebrations date back to 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s landfall. In the 1930s, it became one of now 10 official federal holidays, but local municipalities and states have not always observed it.
The notion of an Indigenous Peoples Day took root at an international conference on discrimination sponsored by the United Nations in 1977.
But the trend to replace Columbus Day really gained traction in 2014, when cities such as Seattle and Minneapolis adopted resolutions replacing the holiday. In the next few years, resolutions took flight in dozens of places. Universities – including Brown, Cornell, Drake, Syracuse, Minnesota State – also have joined the movement.