Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History - December 7th, 2018?

Oct 16, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore

Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History traces the origins of Columbus Day—from a Columbus-themed observance formalized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—then contrasts it with Indigenous perspectives. It highlights colonial violence, death, and forced assimilation, and explains why Native communities and allies have long protested. The document outlines how Indigenous Peoples’ Day gained momentum across states and cities, listing places that renamed the October holiday and emphasizing the need for more accurate, complete narratives in education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History

Origins of Columbus Day

Indigenous opposition and UN proposal

Spread of Indigenous Peoples’ Day across the U.S.

Education and curriculum change

National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Voices | National Museum of the American Indian Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History October 7th, 2018, 9:00PM / BY Dennis W. Zotigh and Renee Gokey [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/10/08/indigenous-peoples-day-2018/ 1/4](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/10/08/indigenous-peoples-day-2018/ 1/4) Sarah Shear (left), assistant professor of Social Studies Education, Penn State University, and teachers working with students from kindergarten through high school take part in an Indigenous People’s Curriculum Day and Teach-In presented by Teaching for Change and the National Museum of the American Indian. September 2018, Washington, D.C. (© Rick Reinhard) “The most American thing about America is American Indians.” —Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche) The ﬁrst documented observance of Columbus Day in the United States took place in New York City in 1792, on the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s landfall in the Western Hemisphere. The holiday originated as an annual celebration of Italian–American heritage in San Francisco in 1869. In 1934, at the request of the Knights of Columbus and New York City’s Italian community, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared the ﬁrst national observance of Columbus Day. President Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress made October 12 a national holiday in 1937. In 1972 President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making the ofﬁcial date of the holiday the second Monday in October. In the forefront of the minds of many Native people throughout the Western Hemisphere, however, is the fact the colonial takeovers of the Americas, starting with Columbus, led to the deaths of millions of Native people and the forced assimilation of survivors. Generations of Native people have protested Columbus Day. In 1977, for example, participants at the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples’ Day replace Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that Native people are the ﬁrst inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. And it urges Americans to rethink history. The movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day has gained momentum and spread to states, cities, and towns across the United States. The ﬁrst state to rename Columbus Day was South Dakota in 1990. Hawai’i has also changed the name of its October 12 holiday to Discovers’ Day in honor of the Polynesian navigators who peopled the islands. Berkeley, California, became the ﬁrst city to make the change in 1992, when the city council renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In 2015 an estimated 6,000 Native people and their supporters gathered at Randall’s Island, New York, to recognize the survival of the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The demonstration’s success and the worldwide media attention it attracted planted the seeds for creating an Indigenous Peoples’ Day in New York City. The following states now observe Native American or Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Alaska Hawai'i Minnesota Oregon South Dakota Vermont Cities have often led the way, including: Anchorage, Alaska Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona Berkeley, Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Fernando, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville, California Boulder, Denver, and Durango, Colorado Moscow, Idaho Evanston and Oak Park, Illinois Davenport and Iowa City, Iowa Lawrence and Wichita, Kansas Berea, Brodhead, Burnside, Corbin, Crab Orchard, Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, Junction City, Lancaster, Liberty, Livingston, London, Louisville, Mt. Vernon, Perryville, Prestonsburg, Richmond, Russell Springs, Science Hill, Somerset, Springﬁeld, Stanford, and Taylorsville, Kentucky [

FAQs

Why do Indigenous communities oppose Columbus Day?

Because colonial takeovers beginning with Columbus led to the deaths of millions of Native people and the forced assimilation of survivors. The document notes longstanding protests against the holiday.

When did Columbus Day become a national holiday in the U.S.?

Roosevelt declared the first national observance in 1934, Congress made October 12 a national holiday in 1937, and Nixon later set the official date as the second Monday in October.

How has Indigenous Peoples’ Day spread across the United States?

The document says momentum grew across states, cities, and towns, starting with renaming efforts such as South Dakota in 1990 and Berkeley in 1992, followed by many other listed locations and nationwide education initiatives.

Oct 16, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore