Oakmont’s Pulse on Monday’s Holiday: Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day?
Written and Collected By Hydeia Hamilton
It was brought to my attention that our school has Monday off, October 9th, due to the nationally recognized holiday approaching. On many calendars, after expanding societal knowledge, the day is expressed as Columbus Day/ Indigenous People’s Day; although, on a few calendars I’ve come across, only Columbus Day reads. With this realization, I took the liberty of surveying randomly selected teachers and students of different ages. This was to understand if different levels of education made a difference in the participants’ responses. All responses remain anonymous and unedited.
So to clarify, Massachusetts’ official ruling on the second Monday in October is currently Columbus Day; however, according to Spectrum News 1, rumblings of a new bill would change the holiday to be celebrated as Indigenous People’s Day. This bill would be voted on to create Indigenous People’s Day in addition to Columbus Day. Furthermore, according to Wikipedia, the following states have adopted the new name to the national holiday:
Hawaii, South Dakota, Alaska, Minnesota, Vermont, Iowa, North Carolina, Alabama, California, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Virginia, Oregon, and Texas.
To the students and staff, I posed this question:
We have Monday off this week due to the holiday of Columbus Day/ Indigenous People’s Day.
What do you name the holiday and why?
Here are direct quotes from students and staff:
“I don’t think it should be called Columbus Day, but it shouldn’t be called anything. If it becomes Indigenous People’s Day, aren’t we celebrating thousands of deaths?”
“Keep it how it is- Columbus Day/ Indigenous People’s Day.”
“It should be called Columbus Day/ Indigenous People’s Day. What Columbus did was messed up but others will look at it as is because it is recognized as Columbus Day already”
“I understand why we should call it Indigenous People’s Day, and I support it, but it’ll be hard to change people’s minds.”
“To be honest, do I think Columbus deserves a day? No. There are far worthier people that deserve a day in their honor. But does Indigenous People’s Day fix the issue?- Put Harriet Tubman on our money. That was supposed to happen in 2020.”
“Call it Indigenous People’s Day because one recognizes the cultures that were here before us, and is more inclusive; whereas Columbus Day isn’t wrong, you can’t disregard the fact it was known as that for so long. It has historical precedence and has been called that for generations. But to be as inclusive as possible, one is more about one individual, the other is more about a population.”
“I still call it Columbus Day out of habit. But it’s important to focus on indigenous people, because they are more important than Columbus.”
“Well there’s just no school, call it whatever it’s called.”
“Indigenous Peoples Day! I don’t mess with Christopher Columbus. He was a rapist and a colonizer.”
“Columbus Day, it’s just what I’ve always heard. It seems like Columbus wasn’t the best, so it’s important to be aware of his wrongdoings. It’s important to recognize others.”
“Columbus Day, it’s always been called that. It’s too late to switch it now.”
“Indigenous People’s Day because they were here first and should be remembered for Columbus doing bad things to them.”
