New Mexico officially replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by progress18
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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Michelle Lynn Lujan GrishamGOP rep introduces bill marking Cesar Chavez's birthday as 'National Border Control Day' New Mexico Dems brace for crowded race to succeed Udall New Mexico state Senate votes to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day MORE (D) on Tuesday signed legislation into law that abolishes Columbus Day and replaces the national holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day.

The new law removes Columbus Day from the list of official state holidays and replaces it with a holiday celebrating Native Americans and their history.

According to The Associated Press, the new holiday will be celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is traditionally the day Columbus Day is observed.

The move arrives several weeks after the New Mexico state Senate voted to approve legislation abolishing the federal holiday.

Proponents of the measure argued that the passage of the bill would better reflect the state’s culture.

According to 2017 U.S. census data, Native Americans make up more than 12 percent of the state’s population.

At least five other states, including Vermont and Hawaii, have also done away with Columbus Day celebrations in deference to indigenous people.

SpaceBeer_ on April 3rd, 2019 at 17:53 UTC »

I don't know why this wasn't done a long time ago. New Mexico is one of the three states that harbors the 2nd largest American Indian tribe. The state's official symbol is the Zia which represents the Zuni, Zia, and seventeen other pueblos who live there.

I lived in San Juan County which is full blown hickville neighbouring the Navajo reservation. I can just imagine the racist arguments going on there about this. But fuck 'em, I am happy to see New Mexico continue to do things good after ridding the Republicans from control.

Edit: Correction on Zia also being it's own pueblo.

Edit 2: Wow this blew up. I apologize if any of these statements came off as brash and a bit hypocritical. I try not to condone resentment towards others but sometimes these kind of discussions and arguments hit at a historical and personal level that it's hard to refrain from being flustered. American Indians are just a little over 1% of the entire US population but we are still here.

blankstare19 on April 3rd, 2019 at 17:47 UTC »

Watch, the country still thinks New Mexico is not part of the US.

FriarNurgle on April 3rd, 2019 at 17:33 UTC »

Trump is gonna say something racist.