SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 4, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake City has a new holiday to celebrate after Tuesday night’s council meeting. The council unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day.
Yes, the second Monday in October is also Columbus Day. While acknowledging that fact, the resolution states: “We would like our residents and businesses to celebrate and continue to learn about the contributions today of Native Americans to our society and their history.”
Indigenous Peoples Day in Salt Lake City won’t replace Columbus Day, which is a federal holiday embraced by many — and Salt Lake isn’t the first city to celebrate two generally opposing views of history on the same day.
The idea of a celebration to counter Columbus Day was put forth in 1977 at a Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations conference, sponsored by the United Nations, on discrimination against indigenous populations in the Americas.
The trend toward officially observing Indigenous Peoples Day — also known as Native American Day — started with Berkeley, Calif., and the state of South Dakota. Among other cities that now celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day are Albuquerque (New Mexico), Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle.
Here is the resolution unanimously approved by the Salt Lake City Council:
