Another year has come and gone without the Massachusetts Legislature passing a bill declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day. Harvard is one of 28 towns or cities in the state that have made the change, and it’s past time for our state to do the same.
Celebrating Indigenous peoples rather than the voyages of the skilled navigator and explorer, who was known in his own time for brutally mistreating them, is an action supported by the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and Italians for Indigenous Peoples Day. Organizations in opposition include the Massachusetts Italian American Heritage Association and the Knights of Columbus.
Passage of House bill H3292 (Senate bill 2113) would enact the change, redesignating Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day and encouraging activities that acknowledge the history of genocide and discrimination against Indigenous peoples and highlight their traditions and cultures. Similar bills have died in past sessions of the Legislature, but one of the current bill’s co-sponsors, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, hopes for better results in the 194th session, which ends June 30, 2026. “The basis for Columbus Day is just not relevant anymore,” he told the Press in a 2024 interview.
That’s a perspective embraced by state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, in her June 9 testimony before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.” The brutal and violent acts and colonization in the name of Columbus is not worthy of extraordinary memorialization or celebration,” she said. The annual designation of October as Italian American Heritage month provides ample opportunity to celebrate “the worldchanging contributions of Italian-Americans, while no longer venerating Columbus,” she added. “This is an important distinction.”
For now, both federal and state law designate the second Monday of October as Columbus Day, and that name continues to stick. Former president Joe Biden’s annual proclamations recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day did not change matters, nor have Gov. Maura Healey’s annual tweets on X. President Donald Trump, critical of efforts to downplay or reinterpret Columbus’ legacy, said in April he intends to “reinstate” Columbus Day—but the name has never been dropped.
Columbus never set foot in Massachusetts. For a state whose early history was so deeply influenced by the Indigenous societies that flourished prior to the arrival of European colonizers, we agree that it is more appropriate to pause on the second Monday of October to reflect on their struggles and successes rather than the exploits of a brave but flawed explorer.
We urge Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Dan Sena to work with their colleagues to pass H3292/S2113 by the end of the current session. If you agree, please let them know they have your support.
