Washtenaw County Latest To Replace Columbus Day With 'Indigenous Peoples Day'

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - Washtenaw County plans to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day starting next year instead of Columbus Day.

The Ann Arbor News reports the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday on the issue. In addition to renaming Columbus Day, the resolution seeks to make the second week of October into a time of regional education and dialogue.

The Ann Arbor City Council voted Monday night to make a similar change to mark Indigenous Peoples Day. Leaders are considering it in nearby Ypsilanti where the mayor said it's the "right thing to do."

Some other U.S. cities have made changes as well.

Columbus Day, the federal holiday commemorating the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus, has been protested by those who argue he "discovered" a place that was already known and populated, and ushered in an era when the people native to the land were abused and slaughtered.

A statue of the man was reportedly vandalized by someone expressing his or her feelings on the issue this past Columbus Day outside the Renaissance Center in Detroit. A bloody ax was stabbed into Columbus' head with a trail of red paint sliding down his torso.

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