It's no secret that Christopher Columbus wasn't the hero that our elementary teachers said he was. For years, people have celebrated Columbus Day on the second Monday of October. However, because of his grimy and murderous history, many places have switched from a holiday honoring him to a holiday remembering the people he killed and stole land from.
Indigenous Peoples' Day.
The holiday recognizes Native Americans, instead of Christopher Columbus. It advocates argues that Columbus represents the colonization of America, not the discovery. Many Native American activists want the holiday of Columbus Day — which became a federal holiday in 1937 — abolished completely. One issue with getting the holiday abolished completely is that many Italian-Americans cling to Columbus Day with a sense of pride of heritage.
And while the United Nations did declare August 9th as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples' in 1994, some cities and states took it a step further by replacing Columbus Day entirely (I mean what exactly are we honoring him for?)
As reported by AOL, here are some places that have already made the switch.
Minnesota, Alaska, and Vermont all celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.
South Dakota celebrates Native American Day.
Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas are cities that have made the switch. A lawmaker in Washington DC has put forward a bill that would replace Columbus Day with the Indigenous holiday.
Would you like to see the holiday abolished completely and replaced with Indigenous People's Day? Let us know in the comments below.