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    • Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day 2024: What is open, closed
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    Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day 2024: What is open, closed

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    With Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day both falling on Monday, will any businesses or services be open during the holiday?

    According to the Library of Congress, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared it a national holiday in 1934. Now a federal holiday, the second Monday in October has been celebrated as Columbus Day since 1971.

    However, the day is increasingly becoming known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day as people push for a rebranding of the holiday due to the holiday’s namesake, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, and the bloodshed he left in North America.

    Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been recognized by proclamation for three years. It’s not a federal holiday, but President Joe Biden proclaimed the day to “honor the perseverance and courage of Native peoples.”

    Columbus Day, a federal holiday, is “one of the most inconsistently celebrated holidays in the U.S.,” according to the Pew Research Center.

    Is Columbus Day still a federal holiday?

    Despite the inconsistency and controversy, the federal holiday is still recognized. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Columbus Day is one of 11 federal holidays.

    When is Columbus Day 2024?

    Columbus Day is Monday, October 14.

    When is Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024?

    Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the same day, Monday, October 14.

    Is the post office open on Columbus Day?

    No, Post Office retail locations are closed in observance of Columbus Day and there will be no home or office mail delivery.

    Anyone needing shipping supplies can still order them through the post office website.

    Are banks open on Columbus Day?

    Banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America will also be closed for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day.

    Chase branches will be open, but online transactions will be treated the same as on a regularly observed federal holiday.

    What about other federal offices?

    All non-essential federal offices will also be closed for the holiday.

    For example, agencies like Federal Student Aid are closed on Mondays. It also won’t send money to universities that day, but the website will still accept data and remain operational, according to a news release.

    What is Columbus Day and why is it celebrated?

    Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of explorer Christopher Columbus in America on October 12, 1492.

    Columbus, an Italian explorer who led a Spanish exploration, landed in America in 1492. His arrival signaled the start of European colonization of the Americas, as well as trade in goods, animals, and people in what became known as the Columbian Exchange.

    Columbus Day is celebrated by some Italian Americans and has been a controversial federal holiday for some Native Americans.

    Why don’t people celebrate Christopher Columbus Day?

    The elementary school lesson about the explorer Christopher Columbus sailing through the “ocean blue” is incomplete.

    Native communities lived in the Western Hemisphere for tens of thousands of years before Columbus arrived, and contact with European colonies led to a devastating loss of life, traditions and land for American Indians, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

    Although Indigenous Peoples Day is not recognized everywhere in the U.S., advocates say it is important to address Columbus’ violent history and recognize Native American communities today.

    The controversial Italian explorer became infamous for the way he treated the native population.

    According to History Channel, the explorer is said to have done the following to the indigenous people:

    • Uses violence and slavery
    • Introduce and spread new diseases
    • Try to convert them to Christianity

    Critics of the current federal holiday point out that Columbus also committed several crimes against humanity upon reaching the Western Hemisphere. Here are some examples of these atrocities, as compiled by Philadelphia Magazine:

    • Columbus cut off the hands of about 10,000 natives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for failing to provide gold every three months.
    • Columbus cut off the legs of native children who tried to run away from them.
    • He assisted in the sex trafficking of nine and ten year old girls.

    As a result, states and cities began to recognize only Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or both.

    Is Indigenous Peoples’ Day an official holiday?

    It depends on where you live.

    About 29 states and Washington, D.C. do not celebrate Columbus Day. According to renamecolumbusday.org, approximately 216 cities have renamed or replaced Indigenous Peoples Day. Some states recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day through a proclamation, while others consider it an official holiday.

    At the federal level, Indigenous Peoples Day has received presidential proclamations from the Biden administration for the past three years.

    “Indigenous people are a beacon of resilience, strength and perseverance, as well as a source of incredible contributions. Indigenous peoples and tribal nations continue to practice their cultures, remember their heritage, and pass on their history from generation to generation,” Biden wrote. in the 2023 proclamation on the holiday.

    Moving away from Columbus Day and celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day can recognize indigenous perspectives for a more complete view of history, the Smithsonian said.

    By celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the museum says we can also recognize the Native Americans who are still here and fighting for recognition and environmental rights.

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