ROCHESTER, N.Y. – What to call the holiday on the second Monday of October? It’s a nationwide debate that has sparked differing opinions in Rochester. Since 2012, New York has referred to this day as Indigenous People’s Day, with the city of Rochester adopting the name in 2022. However, President Donald Trump recently reinstated the holiday’s previous name, Columbus Day.
News10NBC’s Erin Mahon attended events at both the Italian American Community Center and Cobbs Hill Park to gather local perspectives.
At the Italian American Community Center, attendees expressed a desire to keep the name Columbus Day, associating it with Italian immigration. Some suggested sharing both names.
“Us as Italians, we’re really proud to be Italian. So we’ve always kind of recognized it as an Italian day, but we understand if we have to share the day. We’re okay with that,” Michael Mastrosimone said.
A Columbus Day observance took place Monday at the Italian American Community Center. (Photo: WHEC)Meanwhile, at the Indigenous People’s Day celebration at Cobbs Hill, many participants said the new name made them feel recognized and included. Some refused to say Columbus’ name, associating it with pain rather than immigration or exploration.
“I think it brings the correctness to recognition not to the guy who they give credit to saying he discovered us. We weren’t lost. We didn’t really need to be discovered,” Michael Bastine from the Algokin Nation said.
Rochester’s City Council voted unanimously to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day three years ago, following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2021 proclamation recognizing the new name statewide.
A woman at the Columbus Day celebration said she believed the holiday should be Indigenous People’s Day, stating that erasing their history with a name was not right.
The debate continues among community members, with many at Cobbs Hill supporting Indigenous People’s Day, while opinions varied at the Italian American Community Center.
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A hot holiday debate: Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? WHEC.com.
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