If you grew up in the U.S. you probably remember celebrating the second Monday in October as Columbus Day. More recently, you may have noticed that many calendars now label it Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or may list both. If you have strong opinions about what we celebrate on the second Monday in October, seeking to understand the feelings may be helpful.
Why not celebrate Columbus Day?
Many historians assert that Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean is better described as an encounter with or invasion of places and cultures, rather than a discovery. Columbus and his crew killed and enslaved Indigenous inhabitants of the islands they visited and introduced European diseases that decimated local populations. Because Columbus’ arrival was followed by centuries of oppressive colonial rule and slavery, celebrating a person who committed atrocities may feel like minimizing the value of the lives he took. Here are a few perspectives.
Why celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
Indigenous people throughout the Americas had rich cultures prior to Columbus’ arrival. Despite systematic and ongoing attempts to erase them, Indigenous people and cultures continue to thrive today. That resilience is worth celebrating. Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day centers the peoples who were oppressed, instead of a person who engaged in cruel and oppressive actions.
Why do some fear ‘losing’ Columbus Day?
Culture and ethnicity are important pieces of human identity, and some Americans feel that ceasing to celebrate Columbus devalues Italian culture and heritage. Italian-Americans have also experienced discrimination, both for their ethnicity and their Catholicism, and affirming that Catholics are fully American was motivation for celebrating the holiday in the first place. Some also argue that Columbus’ historic voyage rates celebration, despite the mix of positive and negative consequences.
How do we move forward?
What do we do with these competing holidays and the feelings around them? Here are a few ideas.
Celebrate both Indigenous and Italian heritage. The City of Rochester celebrates Italian heritage on the first Sunday in October, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday. The group that organizes the Rochester Italian Heritage Celebration “acts in solidarity with Indigenous people” and chooses to celebrate Italian heritage broadly, instead of focusing on a single Italian person. This recorded conversation describes community collaboration, instead of division over these holidays.
Learn about and celebrate Indigenous culture and contributions.
- Not far from Geneva, the Seneca Art & Culture Center at the Ganondagan State Historic Site offers many opportunities to learn about the Seneca people. The Seneca cultivated and stewarded the land on which AgriTech now sits, along with much of the western Finger Lakes. (Check out this map and type in the Geneva zip code.) They are still here.
- Many books and articles can give you a more complete understanding of the history of the land we now call North and Central America. For example, on October 2, the Geneva Public Library’s Anti-Racist Book Club meets to discuss The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History by Ned Blackhawk.
- The Rochester Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee offers this collection of Resources for Further Learning, including materials for all ages. You can also find details about this year’s celebration in Rochester.
Learn about and celebrate local Italian culture and contributions.
- This year, Rochester’s Italian Heritage Day is October 5, 2025.
- Many people of Italian descent have made important contributions to all aspects of American life. Here’s a small sample. Columbus is not the only Italian who has impacted history.
- In Geneva, a local lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America holds events and opened a new Heritage Room earlier this year. Like many cities, Geneva’s history includes an influx of Italian immigrants in the early 1900’s, one of many groups that make Geneva what it is today.
Don’t shy away from the messiness of history. It is possible to acknowledge harm done by Christopher Columbus without erasing him. History includes things we celebrate, and things we mourn. This article makes the case for teaching the nuance of Christopher Columbus’ history and legacy (in age-appropriate ways).
At AgriTech we grow things – including the capacity to celebrate diverse groups of people involved in our history.
Sincerely,
Anna Katharine Mansfield and Amara Dunn-Silver
AgriTech A.C.E. Council co-chairs