It started in South Dakota back in 1990. While the rest of the country was preparing for the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage, Governor George Mickelson did something that, at the time, felt radical. He signed legislation renaming the holiday Native American Day. He didn't just want a name change; he wanted a "Year of Reconciliation."
People stayed mad about it for years. Some still are.
Fast forward to right now, and the map of the United States looks like a patchwork quilt of conflicting identities. If you drive from Philly to Berkeley, you’re crossing a literal minefield of legislative branding. In some places, it’s Columbus Day. In others, it’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Sometimes it’s both. Changing the name of Columbus Day isn't just about a calendar update; it’s a high-stakes tug-of-war over who gets to own the American origin story. It’s messy. It’s loud. Honestly, it’s probably one of the most misunderstood cultural shifts in modern history.
The Myth of the "Great Navigator" vs. The Reality of His Logs
Most of us grew up with the 1492 poem. It was simple. It was clean. It was also mostly a 19th-century invention designed to make a young America feel like it had a noble, European lineage. Washington Irving, the guy who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, basically romanticized Columbus into a hero to help create a national identity.
But if you actually look at the primary sources—the real-deal logs and letters from Columbus himself—the "hero" narrative starts to crumble. We aren't talking about modern "woke" interpretations here. We’re talking about what the man wrote with his own hand.
Columbus wasn't a "discoverer" in the sense that he found an empty wilderness. He found an empire. Specifically, the Taíno people. In his own journals, he noted how "well-built" and "handsome" they were, but he immediately followed those observations with notes on how easy they would be to subjugate. He wrote that with fifty men, he could "make them do whatever we want."
That’s a tough pill to swallow if you grew up thinking he was just a brave explorer looking for spices.
The brutality that followed—enclosure systems, the encomienda process, and the literal enslavement of thousands—is documented by contemporary observers like Bartolomé de las Casas. Las Casas was a Spanish priest who witnessed the devastation firsthand. He wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, which remains one of the most haunting eyewitness accounts in history. When activists push for changing the name of Columbus Day, they aren't trying to "cancel" a guy; they’re trying to stop celebrating a period that initiated a literal demographic collapse.
Why Italian-Americans Feel Like They're Losing a Piece of Themselves
You can’t talk about this without talking about the 1891 lynchings in New Orleans.
This is the part that often gets skipped over in the "Columbus is a villain" conversation. In the late 1800s, Italian immigrants were treated like dirt in America. They were victims of systemic racism, seen as "non-white," and often relegated to the most dangerous jobs. In 1891, eleven Italian-Americans were lynched by a mob after a police chief was murdered. It remains one of the largest mass lynchings in U.S. history.
President Benjamin Harrison established Columbus Day in 1892 as a direct response to that violence.
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It was a peace offering.
For the Italian-American community, Columbus became a symbol of their "American-ness." He was the bridge. He was the proof that they belonged here just as much as the Anglo-Saxons did. So, when a city council suggests changing the name of Columbus Day, many Italian-Americans don't hear "social justice." They hear "you don’t belong here anymore."
It’s a clash of two very real, very valid traumas. On one side, you have the generational trauma of Indigenous genocide. On the other, the historical trauma of an immigrant group that used Columbus as a shield against persecution.
The Domino Effect: How the Movement Went Mainstream
Berkeley, California, was the first city to officially adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day in 1992. For a long time, they were the outlier. People rolled their eyes and called it "typical Berkeley."
Then things shifted.
The 2016 Standing Rock protests changed the energy. Suddenly, Indigenous sovereignty wasn't just a footnote in history books; it was on everyone's Twitter feed. You started seeing a massive wave of cities making the switch.
- Seattle (2014)
- Minneapolis (2014)
- Denver (2020)
- The entire state of Vermont (2019)
By the time President Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2021, the momentum was unstoppable. He didn't technically "remove" Columbus Day—it's still a federal holiday—but he gave the alternative name official standing.
Wait, let's be clear about the federal status.
The U.S. government still recognizes the second Monday in October as Columbus Day. Changing that would require an Act of Congress. What we’re seeing now is a grassroots, bottom-up reorganization of the American calendar. Cities and states are just... doing it themselves.
What Actually Happens When a City Changes the Name?
Logistically, it’s mostly about stationery and PR. But culturally, it’s massive.
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In places like Albuquerque, New Mexico, the shift has led to actual policy changes. It’s not just a name on a calendar; it’s a day for the city to formally engage with the 23 sovereign tribes in the state. They use the day to discuss water rights, land management, and education. It turns a "day off" into a "day of action."
However, some places try to have it both ways.
Take Maine. They officially renamed the holiday in 2019. Governor Janet Mills signed the bill, and the rhetoric was all about "healing." But if you talk to tribal leaders in the Wabanaki Alliance, they’ll tell you that a name change is "lipstick on a pig" if the state doesn't also recognize their inherent sovereignty. This is the nuance people miss. A name change can be a powerful symbol, or it can be a convenient distraction from actual legislative progress.
The Legal and Economic Impact of the Switch
Does changing the name of Columbus Day cost money? Kinda.
There are administrative costs. You have to update municipal codes, school calendars, and HR systems. But the real "cost" is often measured in political capital. In states like Ohio or Pennsylvania, where Italian-American voting blocs are significant, these name changes can become "third rail" issues for local politicians.
There's also the "holiday pay" factor. Because the federal government still recognizes Columbus Day, banks and the post office stay closed regardless of what your local mayor calls it. This creates a weird disconnect where a city might celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day on a Monday, but federal employees are technically getting paid for "Columbus Day."
It’s a bureaucratic mess that probably won't be resolved until the federal government makes a final call one way or the other.
Myths vs. Facts: What Most People Get Wrong
People love to argue about this on Facebook, but the arguments are usually based on bad info.
Myth: Columbus "discovered" America.
Fact: He never even set foot on the North American mainland. He landed in the Bahamas and later the Caribbean islands and parts of Central and South America. If we’re being technical, the Vikings (Leif Erikson) beat him by 500 years. Indigenous people beat him by at least 15,000.
Myth: Removing Columbus Day is "erasing history."
Fact: History isn't erased by changing a holiday name; it's expanded. Statues and holidays are "veneration," not "history." We don't learn history from statues; we learn it from books, archives, and archaeologists. Changing the name allows for a more accurate historical record that includes the people who were already here.
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Myth: Every Italian-American opposes the name change.
Fact: Many Italian-American groups, like "Italian Americans for Indigenous Peoples' Day," actually support the shift. They argue that Italian heritage is too rich to be tied to a single, controversial figure and suggest celebrating people like Mother Cabrini or Leonardo da Vinci instead.
Where Do We Go From Here?
If you’re looking for a way to navigate this transition in your own community or workplace, it’s not as scary as the news makes it out to be. It’s basically about being precise.
Here are some actual, actionable steps for handling the shift:
Audit Your Language Check your company’s holiday calendar. If it still says "Columbus Day" and you have a large Indigenous workforce or client base, consider updating it to "Indigenous Peoples' Day" or "Italian-American Heritage Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day." Dual-naming is a common compromise that acknowledges both histories.
Support Indigenous Authors and Creators Instead of just taking the day off to go to the mall, use the time to actually learn the history of the land you’re standing on. Use resources like Native-Land.ca to see which tribes originally inhabited your zip code. Read books by Indigenous authors like Robin Wall Kimmerer or David Treuer.
Advocate for Local Recognition If your city hasn't made the switch and you feel strongly about it, look into your city council's legislative process. Most of these changes started with a single person or a small group of activists showing up to a meeting with a well-researched proposal.
Support Italian-American Organizations That Focus on Culture If you want to celebrate Italian heritage, do it through organizations that focus on the arts, food, and genuine immigrant history rather than just the figure of Columbus. There’s a whole world of Italian contribution to America that has nothing to do with the 15th century.
Changing a name doesn't change what happened in the past. It doesn't magically fix the issues facing tribal nations today. But it does change who we choose to honor when we get a Monday off. It changes what we tell our kids is "important." In the end, names are just placeholders for values—and as a country’s values evolve, its calendar usually follows suit.
It’s a slow process. It’s an uncomfortable process. But it’s a necessary one if we want the names on our maps to reflect the truth of our history rather than just the myths we’ve outgrown.
Next Steps for Implementation:
- Check the National Congress of American Indians for their toolkit on how to advocate for Indigenous Peoples' Day in your local school district.
- Review your state's official holiday list; as of 2026, over 20 states have officially recognized the alternative name in some capacity.
- Look into the "Indigenous Peoples' Day Act" currently being debated in various legislative circles to see where the federal status stands.
The conversation isn't over. It’s just getting more honest.