Indigenous Peoples Day - origins, state list, and how it is observed alongside Columbus Day

Indigenous Peoples Day is observed on the second Monday of October in 14+ US states and the District of Columbia, either in place of or alongside Columbus Day. It was first proclaimed by Berkeley, California in 1992; South Dakota had earlier renamed Columbus Day as Native Americans Day in 1990.

The one-line summary

A civic recognition observed on the second Monday of October, framing the day as a celebration of Indigenous survival and a reflection on the impact of European colonization. Recognized at the state or city level in 14+ US states and the District of Columbia. The federal holiday on the same Monday remains Columbus Day.

Momentum in 2026

The October 12, 2026 observance coincided with "Indigenous Peoples Day" ranking as a top-trending US search query, with Google Trends search interest above one million queries for the surrounding week. The term has trended upward each October since the late 2010s and now sits alongside Columbus Day in the same search-results panel for the second Monday of October. The momentum is search-driven rather than legislative - federal statute (5 U.S.C. section 6103) continues to designate the second Monday of October as Columbus Day - but it tracks the breadth of the state and city-level recognition documented below, where 14+ states and 70+ cities and counties now observe some form of the day.

Origin

South Dakota renamed Columbus Day as Native Americans Day in 1990, the first such action by a US state. Two years later, in 1992, the city of Berkeley, California proclaimed the first Indigenous Peoples Day on the 500th anniversary of Columbus's landfall in the Bahamas. The Berkeley proclamation was framed as a response to the quincentennial celebrations of Columbus's arrival, and it drew on the long-running critique of Columbus Day as obscuring the violence of early colonial expansion.

The movement expanded through the 2010s and 2020s, with at least 14 states and the District of Columbia adopting some form of Indigenous Peoples Day recognition. Several large cities, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, and Cambridge, MA, have adopted the day at the city level even when their state has not.

How it is observed

Observance varies by community. Common elements include land acknowledgements, traditional food and music, talking circles, educational events on local Indigenous history, gatherings organized by tribal nations, and moments of silence. The day is sometimes framed as a celebration of Indigenous survival and continuation; in some communities it is also a day of mourning or a day of protest against ongoing colonial structures. There is no single national observance; the day takes its shape from the Indigenous communities in each location.

The Berkeley proclamation in detail

Berkeley's 1992 resolution was introduced by the city's Peace and Justice Commission and passed by the City Council on the evening of October 12, 1992. The text replaced the traditional Columbus Day celebration with "Indigenous Peoples Day" and directed city staff to use that name in official communications. The resolution was framed around three pillars: recognition of Indigenous survival across five centuries, acknowledgement of the violence of colonization, and encouragement of public education on local Indigenous history. It explicitly invited Indigenous residents of the East Bay to shape the day's programming.

The Berkeley action drew national press coverage at a time when Indigenous movements were gaining visibility around the quincentennial. Within a decade, several California cities and a small number of states had adopted similar resolutions. By the late 2010s the observance was a recognized feature of civic calendars in more than a dozen states, even where no formal state action had been taken.

South Dakota's Native Americans Day

South Dakota renamed Columbus Day as Native Americans Day in 1990, two years before Berkeley's proclamation. The change was signed into law by Governor George Mickelson and was the first such action by any US state. The wording preserved the second Monday of October date but reframed the day around recognition of the Indigenous peoples whose historical territory the state sits on, including the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, and other Sioux bands represented in the state's nine federally recognized tribal nations.

Unlike Indigenous Peoples Day, which grew out of urban civic movements, Native Americans Day was the result of a longer state-level conversation about how the state's relationship with its tribal nations should be publicly marked. South Dakota remains the only state to use the "Native Americans Day" wording; other states have generally adopted "Indigenous Peoples Day" in subsequent years.

Land acknowledgements today

A land acknowledgement is a public statement recognizing the Indigenous peoples on whose traditional territory an event, institution, or gathering takes place. Many cities, universities, and tribal nations publish a land acknowledgement that is read at public events, and Indigenous Peoples Day is one of the calendar's most common occasions for that practice. The acknowledgements typically name the specific tribal nations whose territory the city sits on - for example, the Ramaytush Ohlone in San Francisco, the Tongva in Los Angeles, or the Massachusett in Boston - rather than referring to Indigenous peoples in general.

Critics argue that land acknowledgements without material change can be performative. Supporters argue that the acknowledgements create a public record of whose land the institution sits on and establish a baseline for further reparative action. Both perspectives are documented in the literature on the practice, and the practice continues to evolve.

Related observances around the world

Indigenous recognition is not confined to the US. Canada observes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, set by federal statute in 2021 and observed in all provinces and territories. Australia holds NAIDOC Week in early July, an observance that originated in 1957 and is now a fixed week of programming around Indigenous history and culture. New Zealand observes Matariki, the Maori New Year, as a public holiday since 2022; it falls in June or July depending on the lunar calendar.

The United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 each year, marking the date of the first UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations meeting in 1982. The day is widely observed by Indigenous communities and their allies globally and is the most internationally established recognition day on the calendar.

Legal status

Indigenous Peoples Day is not a federal holiday under 5 U.S.C. section 6103. The federal holiday on the second Monday of October remains Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples Day is observed at the state or city level by legislative or executive action; in some jurisdictions it replaces Columbus Day, in others it is observed alongside it.

State list (as of 2025)

The following states and DC have official recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day in some form:

• Alaska (2017)
• Hawaii (statehood-era; observes Discoverers Day)
• Minnesota (year varies)
• Vermont (2016)
• South Dakota (1990, as Native Americans Day)
• North Carolina (2018)
• Virginia (2020)
• Maine (2019)
• Iowa (2018)
• New Mexico (year varies)
• Louisiana (year varies)
• Oregon (year varies)
• Washington (year varies)
• Wisconsin (year varies)
• District of Columbia

Where it is contested

Indigenous Peoples Day is contested in several dimensions. First, within Indigenous communities, there is disagreement over whether replacing Columbus Day is the right approach or whether Indigenous communities should have distinct holidays entirely separate from the federal Columbus Day calendar. Some communities observe both, treating Columbus Day as a day of protest and Indigenous Peoples Day as a day of cultural affirmation. Second, there is debate over whether the second Monday of October is the appropriate date - some prefer the equinox, some prefer tribal-specific days. Third, the federal calendar still names October as Columbus Day, so state-level recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day does not rename the federal holiday. The pattern is state-by-state replacement rather than federal renaming.

The naming convention itself is contested. Some state proclamations and city resolutions use "Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day" (with a possessive apostrophe on Peoples), while others use "Indigenous Peoples Day" (without). The convention was debated at the 2015 National Congress of American Indians general assembly, where delegates expressed concern that the possessive form grammatically attributed the day to Indigenous peoples as a possessive relationship rather than a recognition of their continuing sovereignty. The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (a UN coordination body) has used the possessive form in its English-language declarations since 2018, arguing that Indigenous peoples (plural) have distinct sovereign claims and that the possessive marks this distinction. Mainstream US press usage is mixed: the Associated Press recommends the possessive form for the UN International Day of the World\u2019s Indigenous Peoples (August 9) but does not take a position on the US holiday.

Within Indigenous communities, alternatives to the Indigenous Peoples Day label have also emerged. The Navajo Nation Council has used "Navajo Code Talkers Day" on August 14 since 1982, observing the Navajo marines who used the wartime code. "Native American Heritage Day" - observed the day after Thanksgiving - was designated by presidential proclamation in 2008 and is sometimes confused with Indigenous Peoples Day. "Indigenous Resistance Day" is observed in parts of Mexico, Bolivia, and Venezuela on October 12. "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation" (September 30) is observed in Canada since 2021 following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s Calls to Action. Each of these dates and labels reflects a distinct framing of what is being commemorated.

The Italian-American response is another axis of dispute. The Italian American Museum (New York), the Order Sons of Italy in America, and the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations have publicly opposed the renaming of Columbus Day in cities including New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. Their position is that Columbus Day is the federal Italian-American heritage day and that recognising Indigenous peoples does not require removing Italian-American recognition. Counter-positions argue that the Italian-American framing of Columbus is itself a 20th-century construction (the 1934 federal proclamation came 130 years after Italian unification) and that Italian-American heritage has other anchors - the Italian Heritage Month (October), the Feast of San Gennaro (September, New York since 1926), the Italian American War Veterans organizations, and others - that do not depend on Columbus Day. The two framings have not been reconciled and continue to shape city-level politics.

A further debate is on the question of land acknowledgements and the practical scope of Indigenous Peoples Day. Some school districts use the day to introduce K-12 land acknowledgement curricula; others have used it to rename mascots or change school holidays; still others keep the day as a recognition ceremony without other policy changes. Tribal governments and urban-Indian community organisations have expressed concern that state-level recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day sometimes occurs without consultation with local Indigenous communities, resulting in a hollow proclamation. The 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit emphasised the importance of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when states adopt Indigenous Peoples Day resolutions.

In other countries

Indigenous Peoples Day, as a formal recognition day, is primarily a US observance, situated as the alternative framing for Columbus Day rather than a standalone replacement. Similar concepts exist in Canada (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30), Australia (NAIDOC Week in July), and New Zealand (Matariki, the Maori New Year, observed in June-July since 2022 as a public holiday). Brazil and several Latin American countries observe Dia do Indio (April 19) or Dia de los Pueblos Indigenas. The United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 worldwide. For a side-by-side of the two US framings, see the Columbus Day vs Indigenous Peoples Day comparison.

Indigenous Peoples Day by the numbers

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Indigenous Peoples Day (United States)": en.wikipedia.org
• Compare: Columbus Day vs Indigenous Peoples Day.