Today is a holiday that has two names.
In some cities and states, it is Columbus Day. In others it is Indigenous Peoples Day. And in some it is both.
So on this day that marks a historic event, here’s a history lesson from the Smithsonian website.
The first documented observance of Columbus Day in the U.S. took place in New York City in 1792, on the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s landfall in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1934, at the request of the Knights of Columbus and New York City’s Italian community, President Roosevelt declared the first national observance of Columbus Day. And Congress made October 12 a national holiday in 1937.
In 1972 President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making the official date of the holiday the second Monday in October.
In 1977 a United Nations Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples’ Day replace Columbus Day after many Native Americans argued that Columbus’s arrival in the Americas marked the beginning of the mistreatment and deaths of Native Americans.
In 1990, South Dakota became the first state to rename C Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples Day.
And here in 2019, at least 15 states and the District of Columbia now observe Native American or Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in place of…or in addition to.. Columbus Day. California does not, but at least 10 cities do including L-A and San Francisco.
And that’s the history of Columbus Day AND Indigenous Peoples Day.
(Photo credit Getty Images) Los Angeles city councilman Mitch O'Farrell (L), a member of the Wyandotte tribe, accepts a Ceremonial Running Staff from Kevin Nunez, dressed in traditional costume of the Tongva tribe, during a celebration of the first Indigenous People's Day, in place of previously celebrated Columbus Day, on October 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. - The City Council had voted last year to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)