Christopher Columbus Day. We all know the little rhyme – “In fourteen hundred ninety-two; Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”  But do you know the truth about what happened next?

Columbus was said to be the one who went and “discovered America”, a land already populated, and thus was even given a national holiday on October 8th. So let’s make it clear, Christopher Columbus was NOT the first person to discover America. According to CNN he wasn’t even the first European to do it, and still somehow this guy got his own national holiday. Columbus did not “discover America, he invaded it.”

There were people way before he even came in 1492. Leif Eriksson and the Vikings beat him to it five centuries earlier. Although yes, Columbus did pave the way for explorations and colonization for America, the people here before him suffered greatly says CNN.

That is why, TUSD Governing Board has recognized that Tucson is the ancestral home of Indigenous people. Therefore, the board and TUSD has deciding to make the second Monday of October, Indigenous People’s Day. TUSD hopes to recognize the students enrolled in schools that represent their tribes  and that they value the contributions the people have made for the community through Indigenous people’s knowledge, arts, labor, science,etc. 

Already states such as Minnesota, Vermont, Alaska, and more have officially replaced Christopher Columbus Day. Love this new holiday or don’t, I think most people can agree, this was something that should have been done long ago.