Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Governor signs legislation to combine Native American day and Columbus Day in Oklahoma

Governor Stitt, who signed the bill into law said 'it just gives us one opportunity to celebrate Columbus, but also the indigenous people here in America'

Victoria Gagliardo-Silver
New York
Friday 26 April 2019 19:50 BST
Comments

Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt has signed legislation to combine Native American Day and Columbus Day into one singular holiday – but denied it ‘downsizes’ the event.

Native American Day was previously celebrated the third Monday of November in Oklahoma, while Columbus Day was celebrated on the second Monday of the month.

The Republican governor said “I think moving it to Columbus Day, I don’t see any downside to it at all,” as reported by AP.

Stitt continues “It just gives us one opportunity to celebrate Columbus, but also the indigenous people here in America.”

The move came after the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes, a local council comprised of Cherokee,n Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole peoples passed a resolution which urged Stitt to sign off on the bill.

Oklahoma’s population is approximately nine percent Native American.

Former governor Mary Fallin, also a Republican, had vetoed the legislation when it crossed her desk last year.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Despite this, the merge has not come without significant concern from Native American peoples, who view Columbus as not a heroic explorer, but as a coloniser who instigated years of genocide, rape, and slavery against the indigenous Americans.

Some believe there should be no Columbus day to begin with, but others praised the move as an equalizer, similar to how New Mexico and four other states had replaced Columbus day entirely with Indigenous People’s Day.

The Independent spoke to Kaitlin Curtice, an indigenous author and citizen of Potawatomi Nation on the role of Columbus Day in modern American society.

“The fact that it’s 2019 and cities are just beginning to really question Columbus Day is a problem that illustrates the erasure and ignorance of Indigenous peoples in the United States.”

Ms Curtice continues, “For Indigenous identities and experiences to really matter to the institutions of the United States, these institutions need to ask why things like established holidays or even monuments and statues can be problematic.”

“Our foundations are colonization. We cannot ignore this any longer, and every city that abolishes Columbus Day is taking one step closer towards that recognition”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in