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The second Monday in October in the United States was officially made Columbus Day by President Richard Nixon in 1972 in order to commemorate the voyage of Christopher Columbus and his landing in the Taino people's lands, islands that are now referred to as the Caribbean. In 1992 a Quincentennial celebration marking the 500-year anniversary of Columbus's 1492 expedition was observed by the United States and Spain. Billions of dollars were spent by both countries. The photograph at right is of Taino Indigenous women.

To Native American communities and nations throughout the Americas, the 500-year celebration was a deeply concerning matter. It seemed that no one had ever learned their history, or cared, that the voyage of Columbus opened a widespread genocide from the most northern reaches of Canada to the tip of South America: tens of millions of Indigenous peoples were kidnapped and sold into slavery, sex trafficked, militarily slaughtered, and died by the transmission of European disease. This outright carnage was explicitly endorsed in the religious Doctrine of Discovery, a Papal rule of law, written in 1452 by Pope Nicholas V. The Romanus Pontifex, as it was called, declared war against all non-Christians throughout the world and directed King Alfonso of Portugal to

The annual U.S. celebration and federal holiday called Columbus Day is this Monday. The day is welcomed by many Americans who are glad for the day off and appreciate the many retail sales events over the long weekend. Columbus Day is also celebrated throughout Central and South America and in Spain. Heroic tales of Columbus having a "great vision and courage" to travel in so-called "uncharted" seas are told to school children and promulgated in mainstream media. Some Italian-American communities today continue the traditions of the generations preceding them who originally lobbied to have this day recognized by the U.S. government in order to develop ethnic pride. This history all sounds reasonable--if you don't know your history, that is!

Pictured above is Jacqueline Pata, a member of the Raven/Sockeye Clan of the Tlingit Nation of Alaska, who is Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians. Ms. Pata is wearing a Tlingit cedar bark woven hat with a Tlingit robe made of ermine and abalone. Photo courtesy of the NCAI.org.

For folks who have the day off this Monday, October 12 in celebration of Columbus Day, the holiday may seem like a good enough idea.

Did you know that the second Monday in October in the United States is Indigenous People's Day?

In 1977, at the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations held in Geneva, Switzerland, a discussion began about a response to the travesty of celebrating Columbus Day and eventually led to the establishment of an Indigenous People's Day. This day is meant to replace Columbus Day and to celebrate the cultures and commemorate the struggles of Native Americans since European colonization.Though many cities in the U.S. celebrate Indigenous People's Day, it has not been made an official national holiday--yet.