Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking History and Honoring Native Heritage

Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking History and Honoring Native Heritage

In recent years, many U.S. states, counties, and cities have increasingly chosen to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. Both observances fall on the second Monday of October. This shift reflects a growing awareness of the need to honor the history, culture, and resilience of Native peoples rather than celebrate the colonial legacy associated with Christopher Columbus.

In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Although it is not yet an official federal holiday, a bill proposing to make it one is pending in Congress. By contrast, Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1934. It was originally intended to celebrate Italian-American heritage during a time when Italian immigrants faced severe discrimination and even violence, including the lynching of Italian Americans in the late 19th century.

However, for many Indigenous communities, Columbus Day symbolizes centuries of suffering—marked by genocide, forced assimilation, displacement, and systematic discrimination. Columbus’s arrival in the Americas initiated waves of colonization that destroyed countless Indigenous societies and cultures.

The concept of Indigenous Peoples’ Day can be traced back to 1977, when the First International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas was held. One of the major recommendations from that conference was to reject the so-called Doctrine of Discovery—a centuries-old belief that European explorers “discovered” lands that were already inhabited. This doctrine, supported by papal declarations, gave European powers such as Spain the right to claim vast territories in the Western Hemisphere, disregarding the sovereignty and rights of Indigenous peoples.

Christopher Columbus, born in Italy, never actually set foot on the land that now forms the contiguous United States. When he arrived in the Caribbean in 1492, his expeditions and those that followed resulted in the enslavement, rape, and mass killing of Indigenous peoples. The arrival of Europeans brought diseases, warfare, and the destructive systems of colonialism that reshaped the Americas forever.

Before European contact, historians estimate that the Americas were home to more than 60 million Indigenous people, with some suggesting the number may have exceeded 100 million. Yet, within just over a century after Columbus’s arrival, the Indigenous population had collapsed to around 6 million. The depopulation was so immense that scientists believe it even caused a measurable drop in global temperatures, as vast areas of farmland were abandoned and reforested, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day seeks to correct historical narratives and acknowledge the deep injustices inflicted on Native communities. Advocates argue that the change represents more than just a holiday—it’s a step toward truth, reconciliation, and education. Critics, however, believe symbolic gestures alone cannot repair the centuries of harm Indigenous peoples have endured, noting that no U.S. president has yet issued a formal national apology for these atrocities.

Globally, many nations—including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Venezuela, Norway, Bolivia, and Brazil—also recognize similar observances. The United Nations marks August 9 each year as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, celebrating the survival, cultures, and rights of Indigenous communities worldwide.