Columbus Day Or Indigenous Peoples' Day? The Debate Continues

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Columbus Day has been a controversial holiday since it was established (Credit: Democracyandme.org/CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Columbus Day, which honors the Italian explorer's October 12, 1492, arrival to the Americas, has been a US federal holiday since 1971. However, the holiday, marked annually on the second Monday of October (October 10th this year), has always been controversial. Many believe that the European settlers' mistreatment of the Native American people is not a cause for celebration.

Historians also argue that Christopher Columbus did not "discover" the continent. The indigenous people had been living in the Americas long before his arrival. He was also not the first European to set foot in North America. A Norse explorer by the name of Leif Erikson set up the first European settlement in Greenland in AD 980 — nearly 500 years before Columbus's arrival.

Some US states, like Oregon, Iowa, and Nebraska, have never recognized Columbus Day. Hawaii renamed it "Discoverers' Day" — in honor of the state's Polynesian founders — in 1971, while South Dakota changed it to "Native American Day" in 1990. As public awareness of the controversy increased, many US schools and universities stopped observing the holiday.

Columbus Day is being replaced by Indigenous Peoples' Day in some US states (Credit: Pew Research/CC-BY-SA-2.0)

In 1977, a delegation of Native nations — at the International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas — proposed renaming the holiday to "Indigenous Peoples' Day." They believed the change would help honor the victims of American colonization. The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority.

Berkeley, CA, was the first city to make the change in 1992. Santa Cruz, CA, followed shortly after in 1994. The idea really began to gain momentum after 2014. That year, Minneapolis, MN, Grand Rapids, MN, and Seattle, WA, renamed Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day." Since then, over 100 cities and entire states, including Alaska and Oregon, have adopted Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Indigenous Peoples'' Day celebration in Berkeley, CA (Credit: Quinn Dombrowski/ CC BY-SA 2.0/ Wikimedia Commons)

In 2020, Colorado replaced Columbus Day with Cabrini Day in honor of Frances Xavier Cabrini. The Italian-American Roman Catholic nun helped establish over 67 schools, hospitals, and orphanages, in the United States and South and Central America. In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first sitting US president to issue a presidential proclamation marking Indigenous Peoples' Day. It encouraged Americans to celebrate the holiday on the second Monday in October, along with Columbus Day.

But not everyone thinks a name change is necessary. For Italian Americans, Columbus Day is the centerpiece of Italian Heritage Month, celebrated every October. They argue that the holiday honors the history of immigration, not the explorer. Therefore, they believe the name should be retained or changed to something more appropriate, like Italian Heritage Day.

Resources: History.com, Wikipedia.org, CNN.com, Interchange.com

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79 Comments
  • thegretest21
    thegretest212 months
    Indigenous Peoples day
    • bob_the_builder
      Italian Heritage Day and Indigenous People's Day should both be holidays.
      • mysterybabysit1
        Indigenous Peoples' Day
        • catzzmoon
          catzzmoon6 months
          Deffo should be names indigenous peoples day.
          • voxxine
            voxxine6 months
            Indigenous Peoples’ Day
            • camicasipuwa
              camicasipuwa6 months
              I think it should definitely think it should be Indigenous Peoples Day. They were here way before Columbus.
              • everettbeans
                everettbeans8 months
                i am only in 3rd but i am in the gifted and talented and it is indiguos peoples day!!!!!!!!!!!!
                • everettbeans
                  everettbeans8 months
                  The indiguos people were already there
                  • wajurilymako
                    wajurilymako8 months
                    Columbus came and killed a bunch a Native Americans we should celebrate the native americans
                    • dogecoine
                      dogecoine6 months
                      That's history. You can't compare a guy in the 15th century to modern standards. The purpose of Columbus' voyage was not to kill natives. He was also a symbol of hope for many Europeans and gave their sons and grandsons a chance to start a better life in the New World.
                    • giovanni123
                      giovanni1238 months
                      I agree with the person below me that says it should be voted on by each state.