Cities Replacing Columbus With Indigenous Peoples Day

While the majority of the U.S. will celebrate Columbus Day on Oct. 10, a growing number of cities and communities are opting to instead focus on the native people who lived in North America before European colonization.

This year, Phoenix has joined the growing list of cities celebrating Indigenous People’s Day. Meanwhile, the entire state of Vermont will now celebrate the alternative holiday as well.

On Oct. 5, the Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to establish Indigenous People’s Day, although it will not be recognized as an official holiday. The Arizona city had never officially observed Columbus Day, according to USA TODAY.

Meanwhile, on Oct. 4 the City Council in Denver voted to make Indigenous People’s Day a permanent holiday, The Washington Post reports.

On Oct. 6, Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont signed a proclamation that replaced Columbus Day with the observance of Native Americans in the state. The proclamation called for state residents to “recognize the sacrifice and contributions of the First Peoples of this land.”

The city councils of Cincinnati and Oklahoma City declined to pass similar proclamations.

At least 26 cities observe Indigenous People’s Day. The holiday was first proposed by a delegation of the Native Nations to a United Nations (UN) conference in Geneva. Berkeley, California, became in the first city to recognize the holiday in the 1990s.

Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle are among the cities that observe the alternative holiday.

Columbus Day was made a federal holiday in 1937 by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Celebrating the arrival of explorer Christopher Columbus in the Bahamas in 1492, the holiday is viewed as deeply important to the Italian American community.

The Order of Sons of Italy in America have billed Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean islands as “the begging of cultural exchange between America and Europe.”

While many Americans revere Columbus as a visionary explorer, Native American tribes have protested celebrating his legacy, citing that he had committed genocide against the native peoples he encountered in the Bahamas.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of “‘All the Real Indians Died Off’ and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans,” believes that the tide is turning on the public’s perception of Columbus.

“When [Columbus Day] into a federal holiday under FDR, ever since then it’s been protested, but for the general population it’s always been a very popular holiday,” Dunbar-Ortiz told TIME Magazine.

The author added that Americans are gradually recognizing that Columbus was not a hero who founded America but “a mercenary who thought he was going to Indonesia.”

Dunbar-Ortiz noted that Indigenous Peoples Day was gaining momentum as a positive movement, concluding “It’s not anti-Columbus but actively celebrating indigenous peoples.”

Sources: TIME Magazine, USA TODAY, The Washington Post / Photo Credit: Mike Steele/Flickr