Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day: What’s closed for national holiday

Monday marked the federal holiday formerly known as Columbus Day, but also now known nationwide as Indigenous Peoples Day.

President Joe Biden recently issued a proclamation commemorating the day, acknowledging the destruction of native lands and peoples after Christopher Columbus’ arrival in North America.

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While more than 100 cities and a handful of states had replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day over recent years, the Biden administration noted that Indigenous People’s Day should be celebrated too, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying that Columbus Day will be the designated federal holiday, CNN reported.

“Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities,” Biden said in the Columbus Day proclamation. “It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light and we do all we can to address them.”

You can read the text of the Columbus Day proclamation here.

He issued a separate proclamation designating Oct. 11 as Indigenous Peoples Day.

“The Federal Government has a solemn obligation to lift up and invest in the future of Indigenous people and empower Tribal Nations to govern their own communities and make their own decisions. We must never forget the centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror wrought upon Native communities and Tribal Nations throughout our country. Today, we acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by Native peoples to this country — and recognize their many ongoing contributions to our Nation,” the proclamation stated.

You can read the text of the Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation here.

Since the day is a federal holiday, some businesses will be closed, CNN reported.

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