Every October, the United States marks Columbus Day, a holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage across the Atlantic. But some communities observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead, honoring Indigenous peoples, cultures, and histories. The differing commemorations raise an important question: Who gets to decide which parts of history we celebrate, and whose experiences are left out?
The debate over whether to call it Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about more than a holiday. It reveals how language influences our understanding of history and collective memory, and determines whose perspectives are treated as important.
Who Discovered America?
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west from Europe in search of a sea route to Asia. He reached islands in the Caribbean but mistakenly believed he had arrived near Asia. His voyages helped initiate centuries of European colonization across the Americas.
Yet Columbus is still commonly described as the man who “discovered America.” This familiar expression, however, reflects a distinctly European perspective (Pennock, 2024). The Americas were already home to Indigenous peoples with established communities, cultures, languages, political systems, and histories stretching back thousands of years.
The word "discovery" is contentious. To describe a place as discovered is to imply that it was previously unknown. But unknown to whom? The land was not unknown to the people who lived there. The description makes sense only when we adopt the perspective of the arriving Europeans. This is an example of how language can reinforce a particular worldview. A familiar phrase can make one group's experience seem universal, while rendering another group's existence almost invisible.
The Power of a Name
Language does more than describe the world. It also reflects the assumptions through which we interpret it. When Columbus encountered Indigenous peoples, he thought he had reached the East Indies. This misunderstanding contributed to the use of the term "Indian" for Indigenous peoples of the Americas (Stollznow, 2020). The label originated in European geographical error rather than in the names these diverse peoples used for themselves.
Today, the appropriate terminology varies. Some people identify as American Indian, others as Native American or Indigenous, while many prefer the name of their specific nation or community. For example, Cherokee and Navajo people belong to distinct Indigenous nations, each with its own history, culture, and identity. Preferences vary, and no single term suits everyone. These differences are important because names carry histories. A label imposed by outsiders can flatten distinct identities into a single category, obscuring cultural and linguistic diversity. Using the names people choose for themselves can be a way of recognizing their agency and individuality.
The same principle applies to the language we use when discussing historical events. Words such as settlement, colonization, invasion, and discovery can frame the same history in very different ways. Each directs attention toward certain experiences and away from others.
How Holidays Shape Collective Memory
Holidays are not simply days off work or school. They are cultural rituals that help societies decide what deserves to be remembered and celebrated. When a nation commemorates a historical figure, it sends a message about the values that figure represents. For generations, Columbus Day celebrations have often emphasized exploration, courage, and European achievement. Less attention has traditionally been given to the consequences of colonization for Indigenous communities, including dispossession, violence, and cultural disruption.
This selective remembrance is not necessarily the result of a deliberate conspiracy to conceal history. Collective memory is shaped by education, tradition, public ceremonies, political decisions, and the stories repeated across generations. Once a particular narrative becomes familiar, it can feel natural, inevitable, and even beyond question.
Changing a holiday's name can challenge that familiarity. Indigenous Peoples’ Day shifts the emphasis from celebrating a European explorer to recognizing the histories, cultures, and continuing presence of Indigenous peoples. The change does not erase Columbus from history. Instead, it invites us to reconsider which aspects of history deserve public recognition and why.
A Debate Beyond the United States
Similar debates occur in other countries with colonial histories. In Australia, January 26 is known as "Australia Day," marking the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Harbour in 1788, an event associated with the establishment of British colonization. For many Indigenous Australians, the date represents the beginning of dispossession and profound cultural disruption. Some refer to it as Invasion Day or Survival Day, while others advocate for alternative commemorations that recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their histories (Selvanathan et al., 2023).
The competing names reveal how a national celebration can mean very different things to different communities. What one group remembers as the beginning of a nation, another may remember as the beginning of an enduring injustice. Recognizing these competing perspectives does not require us to abandon history or agree on every interpretation of the past. It requires us to acknowledge that historical narratives are constructed from particular viewpoints and that those viewpoints can exclude important experiences.
Why Words Matter
Language can preserve inherited assumptions, but it can also help us to question them. The words we use influence what we notice, which stories we remember, and whose experiences we consider worthy of recognition.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day offers an opportunity to look beyond familiar historical narratives and ask whose voices have been missing. It also reminds us that Indigenous peoples are not merely subjects of history. They are living communities with distinct identities, cultures, languages, and continuing contributions to society.
Changing the name of a holiday cannot undo the consequences of colonization. But reconsidering the language through which we remember the past can be a meaningful step toward a more inclusive understanding of history.