Maine is latest state to drop Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples' Day

Maine just became the latest state to drop Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples' Day, just days after its neighbor, Vermont, made the decision to pursue doing the same.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed the decision into law on Friday, citing the importance of better understanding the past.

"I believe we are stronger when we lift up the voices of those who have been harmed and marginalized in the past, because there is power in a name and in who we choose to honor," Mills said, reports HuffPost.

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The relationship between Maine's government and the existing tribes in the state has reportedly been rocky for the last several decades. The wording of a 1980 land settlement caused different factions to interpret the agreement differently, with tribal leaders calling the settlement "fractured and broken," reports The Portland Press-Herald. Two tribes withdrew their representatives from the state legislature in 2015.

Mills, who took office in January, discussed fixing relations between the tribes and the state government as part of her gubernatorial campaign, reports the Press-Herald.