A bill sponsored by Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) would designate the second Monday in October, now known as Columbus Day, as Indigenous Peoples Day and recommend appropriate exercises in schools to acknowledge the history of genocide and discrimination against Indigenous people. Rep. Christine Barber (D-Somerville) filed the same bill in the House. Both bills are tired up in committee and have yet to reach the House or Senate floor for debate and a vote. The measure met the same fate in the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 Legislature.

“Christopher Columbus did not discover the Americas,” said Comerford. “That long-perpetuated myth — rooted in racism and violence — credits a European man with ‘discovering’ a land already home to thriving societies, cultures, governments, language and economies. Our commonwealth is home to sovereign tribal nations and Indigenous communities whose knowledge, leadership, stewardship, art, scholarship and advocacy shape Massachusetts today. They have protected this land, preserved its stories and insisted that we confront a history that has too often been erased or sanitized.”

Comerford continued, “We must listen to them. We must learn from them. And we must honor them. We cannot do that while continuing to honor Christopher Columbus.”

This year, Columbus Day is on October 13 so any name change, if approved, would have to wait until 2027 to take effect.