Emanuella Grinberg of CNN is reporting that many cities in the United States are replacing ‘Columbus Day’ with ‘Indigenous People Day’. Grinberg reports:
“For the first time this year, Seattle and Minneapolis will recognize the second Monday in October as ‘Indigenous People’s Day.’ The cities join a growing list of jurisdictions choosing to shift the holiday’s focus from Christopher Columbus to the people he encountered in the New World and their modern-day descendants.
The Seattle City Council voted last week to reinvent the holiday to celebrate ‘the thriving cultures and values of Indigenous Peoples in our region.’ The Minneapolis City Council approved a similar measure in April ‘to reflect upon the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people on this land, and to celebrate the thriving culture and value that Dakota, Ojibwa and other indigenous nations add to our city.’
The Seattle School Board followed suit along with Portland Public Schools, where officials say Indigenous People’s Day will not replace Columbus Day but supplement it. Schools across the country have been working for years to clarify Columbus’ role in history.”
Based on the largely erroneous metanarrative that has developed around Christopher Columbus, who actually died in the West Indies and never made it to what we now call North America, many people are “pushing back” against the “holiday” or identifying other Italians to celebrate since the “holiday.” Columbus Day is considered by many to be a celebration of Italian-American culture and history that is greater than one explorer.
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