Today we celebrate the newly updated day, formerly known as Columbus Day, but now known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This marks the fourth year in which the United States has formally recognized the holiday in honor of Indigenous People. According to federal law, the day is still not marked as Indigenous Peoples’ Day; however, many exclusively know the day to be this holiday instead.
The holiday has replaced the former day meant to honor Christopher Columbus.
Originally, many of us grew up being taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America and for that we designated a holiday to celebrate him. However, over time, many realized that he in fact did not “discover” anything, but rather came to the Americas in hopes to colonize for Italy. When he found the Americas in 1492, he then proceeded to commit genocidal acts against the Indigenous People living here. As the truth of his actions became more often discussed, more and more people unofficially referred to his holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.
History was made when President Joe Biden first recognized the day in 2021.
Since Joe Biden became the first to proclaim the former day of Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, he has continued to make proclamations annually. Other political figures have followed in his footsteps with governors making speeches about it as well. There have been a few attempts to have the holiday federally recognized in law, most recently in 2023. The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act was posed for a second time to Congress on October 2 of 2023. This bill would designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. No progress has been made on this bill yet, but many are hopeful that it will move out of the committee level soon.
Despite limited federal legal standing, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has replaced Columbus Day in roughly 29 states. Some of these states similarly only recognize the day via a proclamation, while others have it in state law as an official holiday.
Originally Columbus Day became a holiday in 1937.
Columbus Day is fading away not only because we now realize the atrocities that Columbus committed, but also because the idea of him first discovering the Americas has been debated. There are many arguments to make here, one being that no one really discovered the land as the Indigenous People here were already here. However, even with the idea of discovering the land, many argue that other European explorers beat Columbus.
For now, we can turn our eyes from the darkness surrounding Columbus’ true nature, and instead celebrate the beautiful culture of our Indigenous People.