County Board rejects designation of Indigenous People’s Day

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Cook County Board, Commissioner Frank Moe offered for consideration a resolution declaring the second Monday in October as Indigenous People’s Day in Cook County.

Jaden Aubid, speaking on behalf of the Grand Portage students at Cook County District 166, requested that the commissioners support the resolution. In his statement, Aubid expressed the belief that “by continuing to acknowledge the validity of Columbus Day in Cook County, it reinforces the negative images and stereotypes about … the indigenous peoples of North America.”

The commissioners acknowledged that Columbus Day is not currently recognized as a holiday for county employees, so changing the day’s designation to Indigenous People’s Day would have no practical impact.

Commissioner Gamble expressed the opinion that the change would deny Italian-Americans an opportunity to celebrate their heritage and suggested instead that more be done to recognize August 9, a date declared in 1994 as International Day of the World’s Indigenous People by the United Nations.

John Morrin of Grand Portage offered clarification that August 9 is a global designation supporting indigenous people of the world. He noted the resolution before the board was specific to Cook County and its Native American population which makes up 7.6% of the county. The 2010 census saw no one in the county claiming immediate Italian ancestry.
Moe concluded with a statement directed at his fellow commissioners.

“When students come here from school, to hopefully look at a historic day where we as a county board honor them and their heritage, and disavow a fictitious heritage that we recognize on the second Monday of October, I think there’s no greater way that the county board and Cook County can recognize and respect our citizens who live in Grand Portage (than to approve this resolution).”

Two votes followed, one recognizing only Indigenous People’s Day and one recognizing both it and Columbus Day. Both were defeated, with Commissioners Gamble, Doo-Kirk and Storley opposing.

At least four states do not celebrate Columbus Day (Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota) and numerous cities including Minneapolis/St. Paul, Grand Rapids, MN and Seattle, WA have already established Indigenous People’s Day in place of Columbus Day.

Columbus Day as a national holiday did not exist until April 1934. It was then, as a result of lobbying by the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, and in a move to gain more of the Italian vote, that Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 a federal holiday.

Some contemporary historians now question whether Columbus was actually Italian.