Each year, more cities,
states and universities opt to celebrate an alternative to Columbus Day: Indigenous
Peoples' Day.
Instead of honoring Christopher Columbus, the
Indigenous Peoples' Day recognizes Native Americans, who were the first
inhabitants of the land that later became the United States of America.
Advocates for the switch to Indigenous Peoples Day argue that Columbus did not
"discover" America in 1492 but instead began the colonization of it.
For decades, Native American activists have advocated abolishing Columbus Day,
which became a federal holiday in 1937.
This year, both Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day are on
Monday, Oct. 9.
While the United Nations declared August 9
as International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in late 1994, Berkeley,
Calif., had already become the first city in the U.S. to replace Columbus Day
itself. The city's decision was influenced by the First Continental Conference
on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, in 1990, which spurred
another Northern California conference that discussed similar issues and
brought them to the Berkeley City Council, TIME
has reported.
With the exception of Santa Cruz, Calif., and the state of South
Dakota, which adopted the similar Native American Day in place of Columbus Day
in 1990, the cities, states and universities that have chosen to celebrate
Indigenous Peoples Day instead have done so only recently, with cities like
Minneapolis and Seattle voting to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead in
2014.
Which cities and states
celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day?
States:
·
Vermont
·
Alaska
·
South Dakota*
Cities:
·
Seattle
·
Denver
·
Phoenix
·
Santa Fe
·
Portland
·
Brunswick, Maine**
Please
continue this article here: http://time.com/4968067/indigenous-peoples-day-columbus-day-cities/
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