Maine latest to ditch Columbus Day, honor Native Americans
Source: Associated Press
Marina Villeneuve, Associated Press Updated 5:20 pm CDT, Friday, April 26, 2019
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine joined a small but growing number of states on Friday that have renamed Columbus Day to honor indigenous people as part of a movement to recognize the dark side of colonialism in the Americas.
Several cities and a handful of states have made some move to celebrate Native Americans on the federal holiday dedicated to the 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus, and the movement appears to be gaining momentum: Just this year, New Mexico's governor signed such a law, Vermont's effort awaits the governor's signature, and similar bills are pending in Kansas and Massachusetts. Maine's governor, Janet Mills, signed a law Friday to change the name of the October holiday to Indigenous Peoples' Day.
. . .
Native American tribes and others say celebrating the explorer ignores the effect that the European arrival in the Americas had on the native peoples, who suffered violence, disease, enslavement, racism and exploitation at the hands of the settlers.
South Dakota became the first state to replace Columbus Day with a day recognizing Native Americans in 1990, and the National Congress of American Indians and tribal leaders say they're now finding more support for the decades-old idea amid rising public awareness of those atrocities.
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/03/texas-mistakenly-flags-voters-citizenship-reviews/?utm_source=push_notificationshttps://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Maine-latest-to-ditch-Columbus-Day-honor-Native-13798030.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
