(Lorain County) - Several dozen people gathered in downtown Oberlin, to celebrate Ohio's only official Indigenous People's Day.
In August, Oberlin City Council approved the designation honoring Native Americans and ending the recognition of Christopher Columbus' birthday.
Among those attending the celebration were members of City Council, area activists, and residents.
They contend that Columbus did not discover America because indigenous people were already here. They also maintain that Columbus brought slavery, the sex trade, disease, and colonialism to the continent.
Columbus Day is observed as a federal holiday in the United States, but it is not observed as a state holiday in every state, and most retail enterprises stay open.
At least four states do not celebrate Columbus Day (Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota); South Dakota officially celebrates Native American Day instead.Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate the day as "Native American Day", or have renamed the day after their own tribes.
In 2013, the California state legislature considered a bill, AB55, to formally replace Columbus Day with Native American Day but did not pass it.
On August 30, 2017, following similar affirmative votes in Oberlin, followed later by Bangor, Maine in the earlier weeks of the same month, the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
(Photos by Ken Robinson/WTAM)
(c) 2017 iHeartMedia, Inc.