Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day?

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     The ever affluent notion of today's society to challenge national traditions and holidays continues with the rise of Indigenous People Day. Indigenous People Day is the new proposed name for Columbus Day. Columbus Day was originally found as a national holiday by President Roosevelt in 1937 to celebrate European expansion into America. In other words, the "fusion" of two cultures coming together. 
     Activists in support of a more diverse American history are in favor of erasing the Columbus from Columbus Day. The idea stems from the fact that the indigenous people were here first so really they should be the ones receiving the credit. 
The governor of Maine as well as Senator Elizabeth Warren are both highly in favor of the name change and claim that there is a high amount of power in the name in which we choose to honor. 
    The author of the article linked below discusses the fact that changing the name is a small way of changing American history and culture into something that it is not. As a strong believer in protecting the authenticity of American history(all political beliefs aside for now), I think it's disappointing to see the way in which we try to alter the integrity of our nation's history in hopes to change past events we are embarrassed of. The fact of the matter is no nation has ever had a completely scotch-free past and in order to learn from those past events we MUST acknowledge their existence. I believe that times are much different now and the importance of being diverse and inclusive are both highly important. However, I have trouble with the notion of now all of a sudden taking offense to the name of a national holiday created in order to celebrate cultural fusion. 
Columbus Day Article

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