This past Monday, people across the United States celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day to acknowledge and honor the history of Native American Culture. 

Although this holiday is meant to be a time of celebration, there are many controversies surrounding the topic. Before Indigenous Peoples Day was established, the second Monday of October was reserved for Columbus Day. For decades, activists argued that Columbus Day, and the statues of Christopher Columbus, glorified his horrific actions around the 1500’s, specifically towards Native Americans. When Columbus arrived in America, he harmed and enslaved many Native Americans, which caused many people to question to what extent Columbus deserved to be idolized. 

 Due to Christopher Columbus’s controversial history, activists pushed the idea of Indigenous People’s Day to replace Columbus Day for many years. Finally, after protesting and criticizing, the United States Government changed the holiday to Indigenous People’s Day in September 2021.  

 Although many people found this to be a huge success, there was another side that disagreed with the decision. For example, many Italian Immigrants felt that Columbus Day honored their history as Italian Immigrants, as Christopher Columbus was Italian, and taking their holiday away felt like a slap in the face. On the other hand, many people thought this change was a step in the right direction for making up for America’s grim past. Furthermore, many students across Hingham High School had strong opinions about the change from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. John Walsh said, “I feel it was necessary to move on from celebrating the horrible things Christopher Columbus did, and it is amazing that we get to celebrate the achievements of Native American people.” In addition, Will Pollenz stated, “I think that it is amazing for Native American culture to be celebrated and honored on a national level every year from now on.” 

 No matter what people feel about the change from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, it is important to understand the history of the United States and grow as a country from mistakes made in the past. Furthermore, it is also necessary to respect people’s opinions on this topic, and work to make America a better place for everyone.