Colombus Day, now known as Indigenous Peoples Day, will take place on October 14 but what is it and why is it so controversial that President Joe Biden’s administration formally changed the event’s name?
The day recognizes the moment Christopher Colombus, the Italian explorer whose real name was Cristoforo Colombo, landed in the Americas in 1492 and “discovered” the land, introducing the New World to the Old World, despite native populations already residing there.
So as a result, the event is supposed to serve as a moment of reflection and celebration of American cultural heritage and is marked by festivities but it isn’t all great according to local indigenous populations.
As a result, Biden’s administration formally changed the name of the event to Indigenous Peoples Day to remember the Native Americans who lost land, women and children during the European conquest, speared by the English, Spanish, French, Italians and Dutch most of all.
Additionally, descendants of Italian, known as Italian-Americans, use the moment to celebrate their faint blood connections to the south European nation and the unique culture that exists in the USA now.
Why is Colombus Day controversial?
Colombus’ landing set the United States of America on its destiny to become the nation it is today, but in the process there was a lot of murder and pillaging from European colonists and devastation to local wildlife and habitats too.
The day is so divisive that some 29 states across the USA do not celebrate Colombus Day, as well as Washinton D.C, and the director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University explains why.
“To have had American colonialism looked at throughout history as not being a problem,” Scott Stevens previously told USA TODAY. “And celebrated as a good thing is deeply problematic to any of us who live in a (Native-American) community or reservation.”