Source: Boston Globe / Getty
Boston has long had a reputation for being a racist city, so it may surprise everyone to learn that they’ve decided to give Columbus Day the boot and recognize Indigenous People Day in its place.
According to NBC Boston, Indigenous Peoples Day will begin to be recognized on every second Monday of October from here on out beginning this year on October 11. The move was made to pay homage to the Massachusett Tribe who lived on the land now called Boston long before the colonizers arrived and stripped them of their land and heritage.
Boston Mayor Kim Janey signed the executive order at City Hall on Wednesday (October 6) and released a statement saying, “Observing Indigenous Peoples Day is about replacing the colonial myths passed down from generation to generation with the true history of the land upon which our nation was founded.”
As much as we applaud the move, we lowkey feel like she just lost re-election with this one executive order. Just sayin.’
Though she didn’t exactly say that Columbus Day was officially canceled, the city’s has updated their holiday calendar to read “Indigenous Peoples Day” instead of “Columbus Day.”
You can almost see MAGA country foaming at the mouth after learning about this.
Still, members of the Massachusett Tribe, as well as the United American Indians of New England and the North American Indian Center of Boston appreciate what’s been done in their honor and were at the ceremony yesterday as the order was signed.
“For far too long, the indigenous history of this place has been obscured, and frequently erased, by the histories, myths, and priorities of the dominant culture,” said Elizabeth Solomon of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag in a statement. “We are happy to see the City of Boston take the important step of recognizing and celebrating Indigenous peoples in Boston, the Americas, and around the world.”
Props to Mayor Kim Janey for this one. Here’s to hoping it didn’t ruin her political future in Bean Town.
