What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Why we celebrate it over Columbus Day

Indigenous Peoples’ Day honors the truth about the American soil we live on.

Set on the second Monday of every October, the day serves as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day. It recognizes the perseverance and contributions of Indigenous people across the United States.

According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, approximately 95 percent of the Native American population was wiped out 130 years after Europeans landed in the Americas.

Despite the killing, enslavement and forced relocation of the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere, Native people are still standing and working to ensure that their culture isn't forgotten.

On Monday, Oct. 9, Indigenous peoples across the country honor and celebrate their community and also teach the lasting effects of colonialism.

Last year, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day and said his administration will continue to uphold its "solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties."

He wrote that Indigenous peoples "feed the soul of our Nation." The president also asked all Americans to observe the important day.

However, Columbus Day is still an official federal holiday. Multiple representatives and senators recently introduced the bicameral Indigenous Peoples’ Day Act to replace Columbus Day. Read on to learn more about where Indigenous Peoples' Day is officially celebrated and how the Indigenous community is working to make Indigenous Peoples' Day a permanent holiday.

What is the purpose of Indigenous Peoples Day?

Columbus Day, named after Italian settler Christopher Columbus who sailed to the Americas in 1492, was observed for the first time in the United States in 1792, according to Smithsonian Magazine. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the first national observance of the holiday in 1934 before he and Congress made October 12 its official national holiday in 1937. President Richard Nixon then signed a proclamation in 1972 to make the official holiday the second Monday in October, and it has remained as such for over 40 years...in some parts of the country.

Indigenous peoples proposed changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day during a 1977 United Nations conference that addressed the discrimination their community has faced for years.

Shannon Speed, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, spoke to NPR in 2019 and explained why honoring and celebrating Columbus Day is harmful.

"Today we understand that while (Columbus) was an explorer and is credited with being one of the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, we now know a great deal about the history and the way that he and his people behaved when they came to this continent, which included pillaging, raping and generally setting in motion a genocide of the people who were already here. That’s not something we want to celebrate," Speed said.

She added, "That’s not something anyone wants to celebrate."

Speed pointed out that Indigenous children are taught about Columbus Day in school despite it being an "incredibly painful" reminder of the suffering their communities endured.

"And so we can’t have a national holiday that creates an ongoing harm for a significant portion of our citizens," she said.

Even though the initial proposal was put forth in 1977, it wasn't until 1990 that South Dakota became the first state to observe Native Americans' Day, according to the Pew Research Center. In October 2023, the center reported that just 16 states and the territory of American Samoa still exclusively celebrate Columbus Day on the second Monday in October.

When did the US start formally recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day?

In 2021, for the first time in U.S. history, President Joe Biden formally recognized the holiday with a presidential proclamation.

The city of Berkley, California claims it became the first in the United States to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in the 1980s. According to Berkleyside — a Berkley-based digital newspaper, the city launched Indigenous Peoples Day as a counter-celebration to then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s effort to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ landfall on the Americas.

As mentioned, just 16 states and the American Samoa view Columbus Day as an "official public holiday," meaning "government offices are closed and state workers, except those in essential positions, have a paid day off," the research center said.

Columbus, Ohio, even renamed the holiday to Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2020. As of October 2023, 17 states and Washington, D.C., have holidays honoring Native Americans, but they are not all celebrated on the same day.

"In four states, two territories and Washington, D.C., (Columbus Day) is an official public holiday but goes by a different name. Four other states and the U.S. Virgin Islands mark the day as both Columbus Day and something else. And in 26 states and the territory of Guam, the second Monday in October is pretty much like any other workday," the center found.

Is Indigenous Peoples Day 2023 a federal holiday?

Although President Biden and his administration officially recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day for the past two years, it is not a federal holiday.

On Oct. 2, Representatives Norma J. Torres, Suzanne Bonamici, Sharice Davids and Suzan DelBene partnered with Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján to reintroduce the Indigenous Peoples' Day Act to Congress, which would replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day permanently the second Monday of October on the federal level.

"Our country has long failed to recognize and acknowledge its dark history of erasure and harm brought upon the first inhabitants of the Americas," said Representative Norma Torres, who represents California's 35th congressional district, in a statement.

She continued, "By designating Indigenous Peoples’ Day a federal holiday, we take a small but important step toward recognizing the injustices in our nation’s history and uplifting the vibrant traditions, history, and culture of all indigenous communities — an integral part of the cultural fabric of the United States."

How to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day?

When President Joe Biden issued his proclamation last year, he called on Americans to observe the day with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian recommends that Americans celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day by recognizing that all people in the United States stand on Indigenous ancestral lands with a Land Acknowledgment.

Land Acknowledgments are formal statements that can be done before an event or ceremony that recognize and pay respect to Indigenous Peoples. This doesn't have to just be done on Indigenous Peoples Day. In 2020, actor and director Taika Waititi honored the Indigenous people of Los Angeles with a Land Acknowledgement at the Academy Awards.

Consumers can also support Indigenous Peoples Day by buying and consuming products made and produced by Indigenous people. There are scores of podcasts, books and movies made by Indigenous people to rent, borrow and own. According to the Smithsonian, Social Justice Books has a list of books for young elementary school and high school readers as well as educators to read.

Do other countries celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day?

On June 21, Canada recognizes National Indigenous Peoples Day. Canadians honored the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation for the first time on Sept. 30, 2021. The day serves as remembrance for the missing children and survivors who were forced to attend residential schools.

The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1994 that August 9 would mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous People every year.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com