Written by Heather Livengood, Assistant to the Director at the Iroquois Museum
Native peoples and others across the country celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day on a day that was traditionally designated as Columbus Day. The seeds for this change were planted in 1977 at an international conference on discrimination sponsored by the United Nations. In the decades that followed protests against the holiday gained traction as knowledge of the less-than-sterling reputation of this early explorer and his crew became openly discussed and criticized. Likewise, crediting Christopher Columbus with the “discovery of America” at the expense of the hundreds of Indigenous groups who called North America their homelands for more than 10,000 years prior to European contact, is not only problematic but grossly inaccurate. Additionally, for Native people, the arrival of Columbus and European Colonists marked little cause for celebration. It heralded massive losses of life (an estimated 95% of the population), land, culture, language, and spiritual traditions—losses that continue to have significant repercussions in contemporary communities today.
In 1989, South Dakota was the first state to reframe Columbus Day as Native American Day in a spirit of reconciliation and positive change. Today, 29 states do not celebrate Columbus Day and nearly 200 cities across the US have replaced it with Indigenous Peoples Day. Even Columbus’s namesake city of Columbus, Ohio, stopped celebrating Columbus Day in 2018 and, in 2020, announced that it would henceforth be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. On the Federal level, the day has become recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day since 2021.
Professor Scott Manning Stevens, PhD (Mohawk) offers food for thought on the change, “While the European settlement of the Americas meant new opportunities and a better life for many European colonists, it meant devastating pandemics, genocide, and dispossession for millions of Indigenous people, as well as the advent of the Atlantic slave trade. All Americans should reflect on this complex reality. But Indigenous People’s Day is not only a day of reflection, but a day meant to call attention to and celebrate Indigenous resilience and persistence.
To deepen your understanding of the Iroquois and Haudenosaunee peoples, consider visiting the Iroquois Museum in nearby Schoharie County, where you can learn more about their rich history, culture, and traditions. Additionally, explore the Fenimore Art Museum here in Cooperstown, home to an impressive collection of American Indian art. In 1995, the museum expanded with a new American Indian Wing, showcasing the extraordinary collection gifted by Eugene and Clare Thaw.
The header photo is of the Long House at the Fenimore Art Museum, and was taken by @drobbin1.