On October 8, 2021, President Joe Biden declared October 11, 2021, Indigenous People’s Day, to redirect the focus of the federal holiday towards Indigenous people and away from Christopher Columbus. Indigenous People’s Day does not replace Columbus Day nationally, though some states have decided to erase Columbus Day entirely and celebrate Indigenous People’s Day in its place. Native people have been campaigning for this change for years, and Biden’s announcement caught many by surprise.

     “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today.  I encourage everyone to celebrate and recognize the many Indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great country,” Biden wrote on the White House website 

     “Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities.  It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them,” Biden explained in another proclamation on Columbus Day where he acknowledged the pain that European explorers inflicted on Natives, but he doesn’t want those shameful actions to be buried by our people.

     “Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities.  It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them,” Biden wrote. 

     Since Indigenous People’s Day is a federal holiday and will still fall on the same day as Columbus Day in most states, it will be treated the same as Columbus Day. The day will still be off to celebrate Natives or Columbus as you choose to.