For centuries, the U.S. celebrated Christopher Columbus as the intrepid explorer who discovered the Americas – a symbol of American ideals of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Columbus was unofficially celebrated in the United States since the late 18th century. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation commemorating the 400th anniversary of his landing. Waves of Italian immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries facing prejudice and discrimination. To combat negative perceptions, an elite Italian-American group embraced the cause of Columbus Day, arguing that the contributions of Italian immigrants helped make America the nation it was. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Columbus Day as a national holiday.
But for the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the Americas long before Columbus arrived, the navigator represented something much more sinister: the violent colonization of their lands and the brutal treatment of their people.
Eventually, Native Americans began to challenge the narrative.
The movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been in the works for decades.
Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, Native American activists in the late 1960s formed the Red Power Movement, built on principles of self-determination and cultural pride. At a United Nations conference in 1977 in Geneva, Indigenous delegates from around the world decided to “observe October 12, the day of the so-called ‘discovery’ of America, as an International Day of Solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.”
It took time for the change to come here. In 1990, South Dakota became the first state to officially celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today, many states and localities celebrate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of – or in addition to – Columbus Day. This change reached the federal level in 2021 when President Joe Biden became the first president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Meaning
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a day to reflect on how the U.S. has treated Native Americans.
Indigenous peoples are often erased from the historical record of the country – a survey by the National Congress of American Indians found that 87% of state history curricula do not mention Native American history after 1900, while 27 states do not mention Native Americans in their K-12 curriculum.
For others, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is also a way to celebrate the progress and gains that Indigenous peoples have made in recent years, from political representation to visibility in the media.
Source: CNN