Indigenous Peoples’ Day is called that because it centers and honors the original peoples of the land—Indigenous nations—rather than the European colonizers historically celebrated on Columbus Day.

What the name actually means

  • Indigenous refers to the first peoples of a place: Native nations whose ancestors lived in the Americas long before European arrival.
  • The term “Peoples” (plural) is intentional: it recognizes many distinct nations, cultures, and governments, not one single “Native people.”
  • Putting it together, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about honoring the histories, cultures, and sovereignty of many Indigenous nations, not just acknowledging them as a generic group.

How the name emerged

  • In 1977, Indigenous delegates at a United Nations conference in Geneva proposed a day to counter discrimination and challenge the idea that Columbus “discovered” lands that were already populated.
  • Activists and communities began using the name “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” in the late 20th century as they pushed cities and states to replace or reinterpret Columbus Day.
  • Berkeley, California, symbolically renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992, explicitly to highlight the impact of colonization on Native peoples.

Why not just keep “Columbus Day”?

  • Columbus Day celebrates the 1492 voyage that opened the door to European colonization, which led to disease, warfare, forced assimilation, and dispossession for Indigenous nations.
  • Many Native advocates argue that celebrating Columbus ignores this violent history, so they pushed for a name that recognizes the people who were already here and survived these harms.
  • Calling it Indigenous Peoples’ Day reframes the same date from “heroic discovery” to an honest acknowledgment of both survival and loss.

What the name signals today

  • The name emphasizes celebration of Indigenous cultures—language revitalization, art, ceremony, and ongoing contributions—rather than only mourning.
  • It is also a day of protest and resistance , used to call attention to issues like land rights, treaty obligations, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and tribal sovereignty.
  • In recent years, more U.S. cities, states, and the federal government (through presidential proclamations) have begun using the name, reflecting a broader shift toward recognizing Indigenous rights and histories.

In short

The holiday is called Indigenous Peoples’ Day because it intentionally shifts the focus from celebrating a colonizer (Columbus) to honoring the many Indigenous nations who were here first, survived colonization, and continue to shape the present and future.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.