Cities are opting to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day

Columbus Day might be a national holiday, but U.S. cities are increasingly keen on ditching the federally mandated fanfare over colonialism. On the heels of moves by Minneapolis and Seattle, at least nine more cities have designated the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day, USA Today reports.

"We understand it's just a proclamation, but at the same time, we also understand this is the beginning of something greater," said Nick Estes, who is coordinating a celebration in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Other cities to make the switch this year include Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Olympia, Washington. Activist efforts in dozens of other cities weren't successful.

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The people pushing to honor Native Americans argue celebrating Christopher Columbus ignores a history of colonists enslaving indigenous people and taking their land. But critics of the movement counter that the day is meant to pay respect to a history of cultural exchanges between the Americas and Europe, as well as Italian-Americans.

"It's a celebration of when the Europeans came over and started their lives here," one Columbus Day proponent told USA Today. "We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for this history."