A Columbus statue is removed from Grand Park in Los Angeles in 2018.

Claire Heddles

Goodbye, Columbus?

Some cities and states are replacing Columbus Day with a celebration of Native American culture. What’s the best way to acknowledge the explorer’s complicated legacy?

October 7, 2019

By Lucia De Stefani

Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com (Columbus)

The statue of Christopher Columbus had stood on its in downtown Los Angeles for 45 years. Then, on October 12, 2018, it was fenced off and wrapped in plastic during the inaugural celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which the city had adopted to replace Columbus Day. A month later, before a cheering crowd, city workers permanently removed the famed Italian explorer from his perch.

Other monuments honoring Columbus have met a similar fate. In March of that year, a Columbus statue was removed from the lobby of city hall in San Jose, California. And on Columbus Day in 2018, a sculpture in Marconi Park in Philadelphia was defaced with graffiti that read “genocide” and “stolen land.”

As these episodes and others reflect, Columbus’s reputation is under attack in the United States. While many people still hail him as the man whose sea voyages paved the way for sustained contact between Europe and the Americas, his critics view him as a ruthless conqueror who set in motion the of native populations in the region. Some states and cities are moving to replace Columbus Day celebrations with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In some cases, they are removing statues that have long honored Columbus.

“It was the height of disrespect and offense to have the statue remain in the park,” says Los Angeles councilman Mitch O’Farrell, a member of the Wyandotte Nation who had pushed to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Columbus never set foot in what would become the U.S., but on October 12, 1492, his three ships landed on the coast of one of the Caribbean islands that today make up the Bahamas, and he claimed the land for the Spanish crown, which had financed his expedition. He’s often been credited as the first European to have reached the Americas, although the Vikings, who left Greenland to establish temporary colonies in modern-day Canada, predated him by nearly five centuries. When Columbus arrived, millions of indigenous people that he would call Indians—mistakenly thinking he’d reached the East Indies in Asia—had already been living in North, South, and Central America for tens of thousands of years.

The statue of Christopher Columbus had stood in downtown Los Angeles for 45 years. Then, on October 12, 2018, it was fenced off and wrapped in plastic. The date marked the inaugural celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The city had adopted the holiday to replace Columbus Day. A month later, city workers permanently removed the famed Italian explorer from his post. A crowd cheered them on during the process.

Other monuments honoring Columbus have met a similar fate. In March of that year, a Columbus statue was removed from the lobby of city hall in San Jose, California. And on Columbus Day in 2018, a sculpture in Marconi Park in Philadelphia was defaced. The graffiti that covered it read “genocide” and “stolen land.”

Columbus’s reputation is under attack in the United States. These episodes and others reflect that fact. Many people still hail Columbus as the man whose sea voyages paved the way for sustained contact between Europe and the Americas. But he also has many critics. They view him as a ruthless conqueror who set in motion the decimation of native populations in the region. Some states and cities are moving to replace Columbus Day celebrations with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In some cases, they are removing statues that have long honored Columbus.

Columbus never set foot in what would become the U.S. On October 12, 1492, his three ships landed on the coast of one of the Caribbean islands that today make up the Bahamas. He then claimed the land for the Spanish crown, which had financed his expedition. He’s often been credited as the first European to have reached the Americas. That’s not correct. The Vikings, who left Greenland to establish temporary colonies in modern-day Canada, predated him by nearly five centuries. When Columbus arrived, he encountered indigenous people. He would go on to call them Indians, mistakenly thinking he’d reached the East Indies in Asia. There were millions of indigenous people living in the Americas at the time. They had been living in North, South, and Central America for tens of thousands of years.

Replace Columbus Day

The ongoing debate about the explorer’s legacy

Spurring Trade—and Slavery

There’s no doubt that Columbus’s travels changed the world, spurring trade between the Western and Eastern with far-reaching effects, including the eventual creation of the United States. But others point to a far more complicated legacy that includes the enslavement or deaths of millions of indigenous people by slaughter or diseases brought by Europeans, as well as the onset of the transatlantic slave trade that fueled the economies of Europe’s American colonies.

The first celebration of Columbus Day in the U.S. occurred in 1792, commemorating the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival. But it wasn’t until 1937 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday. The designation was cheered especially by Italian immigrants, who had often been treated as second class citizens ever since their arrival in the U.S. by the millions in the late 1800s. However, opposition to the celebrations, based largely on anti-Italian sentiment, dates back to the 19th century.

People are debating how we should interpret our shared history.

The controversy has reignited in recent years, with Native Americans and other groups decrying the event as a celebration of their culture’s destruction, and some cities and states are taking action. Berkeley, California, replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 1992. Since then, more than 50 cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and Cincinnati, have followed suit. And this year, the states of Vermont, Maine, and New Mexico made the switch, joining Minnesota, Alaska, Oregon, South Dakota, and Hawaii.*

‘One of the Most Influential People’

But not everyone is embracing the change. Last May, the borough council of Glen Rock, New Jersey, voted unanimously not to replace Columbus Day, a contentious issue in a district where many residents are of Italian American heritage.

“It’s not appropriate to destroy the commemoration of an ethnic people such as Italian Americans who have done so much for this country,” says Andre’ DiMino, communications director of the Italian American One Voice Coalition. “We cannot give in to this history to destroy this day.”

A proposal to scrap Columbus Day in Montana—which has a higher proportion of Native Americans than most other states—failed in a state Senate committee last April after it passed the state House of Representatives.

“Columbus was one of the most influential people in modern history,” says John Fuller, a Republican from Kalispell, Montana, who voted against the bill. He adds that “Columbus’s enormous contributions, good and bad, need to be remembered.”

Some cities and states are looking for a middle ground. In 2017, Nevada passed a bill to celebrate indigenous people on a different day, August 9, and last spring, Oklahoma merged Columbus Day with Native American Day, now both designated for the second Monday in October.

Some experts think the political battles over Columbus can serve an important function if they lead to honest discussions about how we choose to interpret our shared history.

“If you do it in the right way, it’s a tremendously healthy process,” says Charles Mann, a Columbus historian. “We learn more about our societies and more about ourselves as our societies develop and as we develop.”

*South Dakota observes Native American Day and Hawaii observes Discoverers’ Day.

Columbus Day: Key Dates

1492: COLUMBUS ARRIVES

Sailing for the Spanish crown, Columbus lands on an island in what is now the Bahamas on October 12. European colonization of the Americas follows.

1792: FIRST CELEBRATIONS

For the voyage’s 300th anniversary, ceremonies and parades are held by Italian and Catholic communities around the U.S.

1937 OFFICIAL HOLIDAY

President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims Columbus Day a federal holiday.

1992: REPLACING COLUMBUS DAY

After extensive lobbying by Native American groups, Berkeley, California, formally replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the first city in the U.S. to do so.

2019: NEWEST STATE LAWS

Vermont, Maine, and New Mexico make Indigenous Peoples’ Day official, joining five other states that have replaced Columbus Day with a holiday honoring Native Americans.

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