No More Columbus Day? Seattle To Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Have we celebrated our last Columbus Day? The Seattle City Council recently voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Columbus is still a National Holiday and will undoubtedly be celebrated by the majority of the country this year. But for people in Seattle, well, they’ll be honoring the rich traditions of Native Americans instead of honoring the explorer Christopher Columbus.

Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation on the Olympic Peninsula, said: “This action will allow us to bring into current present day our valuable and rich history, and it’s there for future generations to learn … Nobody discovered Seattle, Washington.”

Hooray, Seattle!!! City dropped Columbus Day! Changed the name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day! Bless First Nation People. They lost so much!

— Susan L. Taylor (@IamSusanLTaylor) October 7, 2014

The resolution passed unanimously on Monday and is expected to be signed into law by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Oct. 13.

If Indigenous Peoples’ Day really does replace Columbus Day you can bet that some people will be very upset.

Ralph Fascitelli, for instance, believes that replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an insult to the Italian community.

Fascitelli, an Italian American living in Seattle, said: “We don’t argue with the idea of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. We do have a big problem of it coming at the expense of what essentially is Italian Heritage Day. This is a big insult to those of us of Italian heritage. We feel disrespected. America wouldn’t be America without Christopher Columbus.”

What do you think? Do you think Columbus Day is offensive? Are you ready to celebrate your first Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

[Image Via Wikipedia]