- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2168
Photo: Ang Tek Gie Photography
National Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States is observed on 14 October 2025 (also Columbus Day) to celebrate the history, cultures, and contributions of Indigenous communities. It also recognises the resilience and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples after the impact of the colonial legacy following the arrival of Columbus in 1492.
Ceremonies and cultural events celebrate Indigenous heritage with educational programs run in schools and museums. Although not a federal holiday, ten states have a holiday celebrating Native American culture.
The American Indian Movement was founded 1968. It saw Columbus Day as whitewashing the brutal colonisation, displacement, and suffering of Indigenous peoples. In 1977, the International World Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas was sponsored by the United Nations in Switzerland. It discussed replacing Columbus Day in the Americas with a celebration to be known as Indigenous People’s Day.
The First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance was held in Quito, Ecuador, with representatives of Indigenous peoples coming from across the Americas. It agreed that 1992 would mark the 500th anniversary of the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus reframing Columbus as a symbol of genocide and oppression. In 2021, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation formally recognising Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a national observance.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been criticised by American conservatives. In 2020, President Donald Trump described the day as “the radical left eradicating our history”. In 2022, the Washington Examiner published a column calling for the holiday’s end, saying that Indigenous peoples attacked and conquered each other’s land. Other critics saw it as an attack on Italian Americans and their history, labelling it Italian discrimination. The Second Trump Administration has criticised “left-wing radicals” for tarnishing Columbus’s reputation.
Protests against days of celebration continue. A National Day of Mourning is held on Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a protest and remembrance by Indigenous people opposing the traditional Thanksgiving narrative. In 2020, the Indigenous People’s Day of Rage was held in Portland, where protesters toppled statues and made claims against settler colonial commemoration. The fight for the narrative of commemorating conquest or its consequences continues.
