What is Indigenous Peoples Day? Is it offensive to celebrate Columbus Day? Everything you need to know

• Last year President Biden made Indigenous Peoples Day a federal holiday
• Columbus Day is still celebrated, although it’s controversial and declining
• Native American experts see the holiday as an act of respecting past suffering more than celebration

The second Monday of October has been a national holiday for close to a century, but this will be only the second year that Indigenous Peoples Day has held that designation. 

Last October, President Joe Biden signed the first presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day, a commemoration-turned-holiday that began in 1977 to honor Native American history and culture. That presidential stamp of approval was the most significant boost to date of efforts refocusing a federal holiday that for decades celebrated Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America. 

Although few Americans are arguing with the notion of being off work come Monday, Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day have prompted political debate in states, cities and municipalities around the U.S., especially in the past decade, with some pushing against change and others favoring Indigenous Peoples Day instead. 

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What is Indigenous Peoples Day?

The celebrating of an Indigenous Peoples Day took root in 1977 at an international conference on discrimination sponsored by the United Nations. It’s grown as a day to honor Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. South Dakota was the first state to recognize the day in 1989, and the California cities of Berkeley and Santa Cruz followed. 

In 1990, the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations, began to discuss replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. California and Tennessee observe Native American Day in September, not conflicting with Columbus Day.

Scott Stevens, the director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University, said Indigenous Peoples Day is about resilience of what past cultures have endured as much as it is about honoring heritage. 

“It is the recognition of our survival and, in many cases, resistance and even flourishing,” Stevens told USA TODAY. “There still are a lot of social and economic problems that Indigenous communities experience. There’s also this idea that American Indians and Native Americans, that we’re all one people. But we have diversity and our cultures are vastly different. One thing we all have in common is that our ancestors suffered because of American colonialism, so it serves as an opportunity where we can turn to each other in unity.”