Columbus Day Or Indigenous Peoples' Day? The Debate Rages On
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
Columbus Day, which is commemorated annually on the second Monday in October, has been a US federal holiday since 1934. However, the celebration, honoring Christopher Columbus's arrival to the Americas, has always been somewhat controversial due to the European settlers' brutal treatment of the Native American people. It has also been argued that the indigenous people had already "discovered" America by the time Columbus landed on the Bahamian island he named San Salvador on October 12, 1492.
While some states, such as Oregon, Iowa, and Nebraska, never observed the holiday, others began altering their celebration as the years passed. Hawaii renamed the holiday "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 increased, numerous schools and universities across the country also stopped marking the event. A 2015 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that Columbus Day was the most inconsistently celebrated US holiday.
Though the shift in sentiment was encouraging, many people were still not happy that Columbus Day remained an official federal holiday. In 1977, a delegation of Native nations, attending the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, suggested renaming Columbus Day to "Indigenous Peoples’ Day." They believed the change would help honor the victims of American colonization. The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority, but implementing the change was not easy.
In 1992, Berkeley, CA, became the first city to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with Santa Cruz, CA, following shortly after, in 1994. However, the momentum slowed down again until 2014, when Minneapolis, MN, Grand Rapids, MN, and Seattle, WA, decided to adopt the change. Since then, over 100 cities and states and numerous universities nationwide have switched to the new name.
On March 11, 2020, Colorado passed legislation to replace Columbus Day with Cabrini Day in honor of Frances Xavier Cabrini. The Italian-American Roman Catholic nun is credited with establishing 67 schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States and South and Central America throughout her lifetime. On September 4, 2020, Arizona governor Doug Ducey signed a proclamation that recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day on Oct. 12, 2020. However, it does not replace Columbus Day as a federal holiday.
The movement to alter the name has also gained ground in Latin America. Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, and Uruguay have all renamed Columbus Day to “Dia de la Raza,” or “Day of the Race." The holiday celebrates Latin America's mixed indigenous and European heritage and culture. Venezuela and Nicaragua's "Día de la Resistencia Indígena," or "Indigenous Resistance Day," honors the indigenous population's past and ongoing struggles.
However, not everyone believes a name change is necessary. Italian Americans, who have made Columbus Day the centerpiece of Italian Heritage Month — which is celebrated throughout October— argue 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. What do you think? Be sure to let us know by adding your comments below.
Resources: CNN.com, Wikipedia.org
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
243 Comments
niherico-160250579097about 4 yearsI think people should be able to celebrate what they believe in but I think indigenous peoples day because, Columbus didn't really do anything. Columbus and the men that were with him enslaved a lot of these Native Americans that lived on the land. He treated them horrible with no respect at all. Christopher Columbus should not have a holiday. He was not nice to the people that lived on the land. He took there land and made it his own by giving it his own name too!
gold3nglareabout 4 yearsI agree. Fun fact: The Vikings first discovered America
- fyrolasu-160250579108about 4 yearsI think Columbus Day should be erased from the United States, for it is celebrating Columbus didn't actually discover America, the Natives did. Also, Columbus killed many Native people for the killing of innocent Native Americans. All in all, I think that Colombus Day, a day celebrating someone who killed many innocent people, should be erased from the U.S, and should be replaced by a holiday that celebrates the true discoverers: Indigenous Peoples Day .
lydezota-160250579095about 4 yearshe is mean and he should not have a holiday- fyrolasu-160250579108about 4 yearsI think Columbus Day should be erased from the United States, for it is celebrating Columbus didn't actually discover America, the Natives did. Also, Columbus killed many Native people for the killing of innocent Native Americans.
sisicibe-160250579097about 4 yearsI think it should be indigenous peoples day because Columbus toke native Americans as slaves he also toke credit for things he did not even do like finding america indigenous people found america not him! We should not be honering Christopher Columbus for doing such a thing.
hegugari-160250579096about 4 yearswhat I think this day should be called is indigenes day. Because 1 Kristofer Columbus was not the first person to arrive in America, the ideans where achily the first person to arrive in America, ao that means that the Indians where the first people ao it should be Indians day.
juzepypy-160250579171about 4 yearsI think there should be indigenous people's day because Columbus didn't find America. He took Natives as slaves, and he is taking other people's credit! Why do we celebrate that? I think we should give more credit to the Russians for what they did not Columbus. That is why I think there should be Indigenous People day.
dolamute-160250579097about 4 yearsI think it should be called indigenous people's day because Christopher Columbus did not discover America. The, Native American settlers who were there before Christopher Columbus landed in America. And, Christopher Columbus did not mean to land in America because he thought that America was India but he didn't know that there was a whole entire continent in between India and Europe.
hukyfehu-160250579171about 4 yearsI think that it should be called indigenous people day because 1 he wasn't even the first European . 2 there were already indigenous people there. 3 he was brutal to the people there.- gold3nglareabout 4 years4. He killed and took their land 5. he didn't discover America. The Vikings did. Then the Native Americans came. Then Columbus did. I think that when you Google American, a Native American should show up. They are the *natives* of this place, but their land was taken from them, which is not fair to them. Columbus day should not be celebrated
fyjuhefe-160250579097about 4 yearsI think the holiday should be indigenous peoples day because Columbus treated many indigenous people badly, the first people to be on america, they may not of named it but they discovered it, and Christopher Columbus didn't even really mean to "discover" it he couldn't barley find it also the indigenous people treated him well. We should celebrate indigenous people they found america and got no mention or applaud.
