Today is Columbus Day, remembering how Christopher Columbus landed in the “New World” on October 12, 1492. This has become controversial. For the people who were already here–the native Americans whom Columbus named “Indians”–the notion that this European “discovered” America is offensive, especially since Columbus’s landing marked the beginning of European colonization and the decimation of the people who were already here.
So, in a great example of co-opting a holiday for another purpose, some cities and the entire state of South Dakota are celebrating October 12 as Indigenous Peoples Day.
From Sabrina Rojas Weiss, Columbus Day Replaced Indigenous Peoples Day:
It’s difficult to think of a holiday that brings up more conflicted emotions in Americans than Columbus Day. It’s ostensibly to celebrate the day an Italian man hired by Spain landed on the island of Hispaniola. So for Italians, it’s a celebration of their eventual immigration to this place. For Latinos, it’s Dia de la Raza, which is kind of an acceptance of the intermarriage that colonization brought on. And for Native Americans, it’s the anniversary of the day European settlers began to take over their home — until recently, when several cities began taking it upon themselves to pass resolutions declaring the second Monday of October Indigenous Peoples Day. This year, the count is about 11 cities, one county, one state, and rising each day.