The Native History of Indigenous Peoples Day

As more cities and states consider marking Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day, one Native American scholar aims to set the record straight on where the movement began.

Why you can trust us

By Malinda Maynor Lowery

4 MIN READ

Oct 9, 2020

Increasingly, Columbus Day .

More and more towns and cities across the country are electing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day 鈥攐r in addition to鈥攖he day intended to honor Columbus鈥� voyages.

see it as just another example of political correctness run amok鈥攁nother flashpoint of the culture wars.

鈥攁nd a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina鈥擨 know the story is more complex than that.

The growing recognition and celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day actually represents the fruits of a concerted, decades-long effort to recognize the role of Indigenous people in the nation鈥檚 history.

Why Columbus?

Columbus Day is a relatively new federal holiday.

In 1892, a prompted President Benjamin Harrison to mark the 鈥渄iscovery of America by Columbus,鈥� in part because of 鈥渢he devout faith of the discoverer and for the divine care and guidance which has directed our history and so abundantly blessed our people.鈥�

to impose their will on Indigenous people. So it seemed logical to call on God when establishing a holiday celebrating that conquest, too.

Of course, not all Americans considered themselves blessed in 1892. That same year, a lynching forced Black journalist Ida B. Wells to . And while Ellis Island had opened in January of that year, , Congress had already banned Chinese immigration , subjecting Chinese people living in the U.S. to widespread persecution.

And then there was the government鈥檚 philosophy towards the country鈥檚 Native Americans, which Army Col. Richard Henry Pratt : 鈥淎ll the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.鈥�

It took 42 more years for Columbus Day to formally become a federal holiday, thanks to by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He was responding, in part, to a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, a national Catholic charity founded to provide services to Catholic immigrants. Over time, to include advocacy for Catholic social values and education.

Members of the Virdone family smile on Fifth Avenue during the annual Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 8, 2012, in New York City. The parade was launched in 1929 and is billed as the world鈥檚 largest celebration of Italian American heritage, featuring more than 35,000 participants. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

When Italians first arrived in the United States, they were . Officially celebrating Christopher Columbus鈥攁n Italian Catholic鈥攂ecame one way to affirm in the U.S. in the 20th century, one in which the descendants of diverse ethnic European immigrants became 鈥淲hite鈥� Americans.

Indigenous People Power

But some Americans started to question why Indigenous people鈥攚ho鈥檇 been in the country all along鈥攄idn鈥檛 have their own holiday.

In the 1980s, Colorado鈥檚 American Indian Movement chapter . In 1989, activists in South Dakota persuaded the state Columbus Day with Native American Day. Both states have large Native populations that played active roles in the in the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to make American Indian people more politically visible.

Then, in 1992, at the 500th anniversary of Columbus鈥� first voyage, American Indians in Berkeley, California, organized the first 鈥�,鈥� a holiday the City Council soon formally adopted. Berkeley has since replaced its commemoration of Columbus with a celebration of Indigenous people.

Dancers from Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America, a school for Indigenous students, pray before dancing on Hollywood Boulevard near the El Capitan Theatre and Jimmy Kimmel Live Studio during an event celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 8, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images.

The holiday can also trace its origins to the United Nations. In 1977, Indigenous leaders from around the world organized a United Nations conference in Geneva to promote Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. was 鈥渢o observe October 12, the day of so-called 鈥榙iscovery鈥� of America, as an International Day of Solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.鈥� It took 30 more years for their work to be formally recognized in the , which was adopted in September 2007.

Unexpected Allies

Today, cities with significant Native populations, such as Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles now celebrate either Native American Day or Indigenous Peoples Day. And states like Hawaii, Nevada, Minnesota, Alaska, and Maine have also formally recognized their Native populations with similar holidays. Many Native governments, like the Cherokee and Osage in Oklahoma, either don鈥檛 observe Columbus Day or have replaced it with their own holiday.

But you鈥檒l also find commemorations in less likely places. Alabama alongside Columbus Day, as does North Carolina, which, with a population of more than , has the largest number of Native Americans of any state east of the Mississippi River.

A statue of Christopher Columbus at a downtown Los Angeles park is surrounded by a chain-link fence on Oct. 9, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images.

In 2018, the town of Carrboro, North Carolina, to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. The resolution noted the fact that the town of 21,000 had been built on Indigenous land and that it was committed to 鈥減rotect, respect, and fulfill the full range of inherent human rights,鈥� including those of Indigenous people.

While Columbus Day affirms the story of a nation created by Europeans for Europeans, Indigenous Peoples Day emphasizes Native histories and Native people鈥攁n important addition to the country鈥檚 ever-evolving understanding of what it means to be American.

This article was originally published by . It has been republished here with permission.

Malinda Maynor Lowery is a historian and documentary film producer who is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. An Associate Professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill and Director of the Center for the Study of the American South, Lowery writes on topics including American Indian history, Southern history, religion, music, and foodways. Lowery's second book, The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle, was published by UNC Press in September 2018.