Some U.S. cities and states have replaced observance of Columbus Day with observance of Indigenous Peoples Day.
October 13, 2025
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descriptive
Local and state jurisdictions have adopted Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus Day as an official observance.
In 2021, President Joe Biden formally recognized the second Monday in October as both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day.
January 01, 2021
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temporal
A federal recognition that designates the same calendar day for both observances.
Activists have advocated replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day on the grounds that celebrating Christopher Columbus can endorse colonialism and violence against Indigenous peoples, and activists have sought removal of Columbus statues, with some statues toppled during widespread protests in 2020.
January 01, 2020
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social
Summary of advocacy and statue-removal efforts related to Columbus Day.
Columbus Day has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1971.
January 01, 1971
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temporal
U.S. federal holiday status.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a federal holiday in 1934.
January 01, 1934
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temporal
Establishment of Columbus Day as a federal holiday in U.S. law.
Columbus Day was founded in 1892, and part of the motivation cited for its founding was the extrajudicial lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans after the death of a local police chief.
January 01, 1892
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historical
The holiday's founding is tied to late 19th-century events affecting Italian-American communities.