Tensions persist between legacy of Columbus, native people
Monday’s federal holiday dedicated to Christopher Columbus highlighted the ongoing divide between those who view the explorer as a representative of Italian American history and others horrified by an annual tribute that ignores native people whose lives and culture were forever changed by colonialism.
Spurred by national calls for racial equity, communities across the U.S. took a deeper look at Columbus’ legacy in recent years — pairing or replacing it with Indigenous Peoples Day.
On Friday, President Joe Biden issued the first presidential proclamation of “Indigenous Peoples Day,” the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Columbus.
But activists, including members of Native American tribes, said ending the formal holiday in Columbus’ name has been stymied by politicians and organizations focusing on Italian American heritage.
Columbus’ arrival began centuries of exploration and colonization by European nations, bringing violence, disease and other suffering to native people already living in the Western Hemisphere.
“Not honoring Indigenous peoples on this day just continues to erase our history, our contributions and the fact that we were the first inhabitants of this country,” said Les Begay, Diné Nation member and co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples Day Coalition of Illinois.
Across the country tension, over the two holidays has been playing out since the early 1990s. Debates over monuments and statues of the Italian explorer tread similar ground, as in Philadelphia where the city placed a box over a Columbus statue last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Philadelphia lawyer George Bochetto, who has been fighting Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration to uncover the statue, said Saturday many felt efforts to remove it were an attack on Italian-American heritage.
Kenney previously signed an executive order changing the city’s annual Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Kenney spokesperson Kevin Lessard said the statue should remain boxed up “in the best interest and public safety of all Philadelphians.”
In 2016, Lincoln, Neb., joined other cities adding Indigenous Peoples Day to the calendar on the same date as Columbus Day.
In New York City, the annual Columbus Day Parade returns after a one-year, in-person absence attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. The parade is touted by some as the world’s largest Columbus Day celebration.
In May, Italian American activists complained after the Board of Education erased Christopher Columbus Day from the New York City school calendar, replacing it with “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Following the outcry, the schools changed the designation to: “Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.”
Chicago’s annual Columbus Day parade also returns after the pandemic forced 2020’s cancellation of the event that draws 20,000 people. It’s a vivid reminder of the ongoing fight over three statues of Columbus, still warehoused by the city after protesters targeted them in summer 2020.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July 2020 ordered the statues removed and said demonstrations were endangering protesters and police.
She later created a committee to review monuments in the city, including the fate of Columbus monuments. No plans have been announced publicly, but the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans that plans the Columbus Day parade this summer sued the city’s park district, demanding that one be restored.
“The outcome I’m looking for is (for) our traditions to be respected and conversations to continue,” Ron Onesti, the committee’s president, said Saturday. “Every plaque that goes along with a statue says it recognizes the Italian community’s contributions. So people need to understand that’s why it’s there, and then let’s sit down and figure out where to go from here.”
Illinois in 2017 designated the last Monday in September as Indigenous Peoples Day but kept Columbus Day on the second Monday of October. A proposal to replace Columbus Day filed this year hasn’t received any action.
Chicago Public Schools in 2020 voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, provoking outrage from several alderman and Italian American groups. The city’s holiday calendar still lists Columbus Day.
Begay, the Indigenous Peoples Day advocate, said the organization decided to focus on changing Columbus Day first in Cook County, hoping it would be an easier path than convincing state or Chicago officials. But so far, members of the county’s board haven’t lined up behind the proposal.
