That’s what residents of Seattle and Minneapolis, and schoolchildren in Portland, Oregon, are celebrating today. Daniel Beekman reports that “Native American activists laughed, wept and sang their way out of Seattle’s City Hall on Monday after watching the City Council unanimously approve a resolution designating the second Monday in October as ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day'”:
“It’s beautiful to see,” said Matt Remle, a Seattle resident of Lakota heritage who wrote the first draft of the resolution, “the people walking out with smiles on their faces. Bringing that good energy and spirit to the people is what this was all about.” The legislation provoked some opposition because October’s second Monday also is Columbus Day, a federal holiday named for explorer Christopher Columbus and widely marked by the celebration of Italian-American history and culture. In the council chambers [last] Monday, a half-dozen people held Italian flags to demonstrate their support for Columbus Day. … But for each Italian American activist at City Hall there were scores of Native American activists, many wearing pieces of traditional garb and some carrying drums.
Brian Braiker adds:
[I]t turns out that opposition to Columbus Day is nothing new.
As far back as the 19th century, activists sought to ban celebrations of the day (which was made an official holiday in 1934) because of the Italian diaspora’s association with the Knights of Columbus — a then-secretive organization that some feared was working to expand Catholic influence. “The move to replace Columbus Day with indigenous peoples day has its roots in one of the first indigenous advocacy groups, the Society of American Indians, nearly a century ago,” [Cultural Movements and Collective Memory: Christopher Columbus and the Rewriting of the National Origin Myth author Timothy] Kubal said.
This debate is not unique to North America, either. And it doesn’t have to be an either/or question. There is a near-exact parallel debate unfolding Down Under. “Australia Day” celebrates Captain Cook’s arrival there in 1788. Some people now derisively call the holiday “Invasion Day,” points out Christine Outram, vp, invention director at DeutschLA.
[The Colbert video initially embedded above – which was autoplaying for many readers – here]
The Dish 