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On Monday, Tempe to celebrate Indigenous People's Day

The city of Tempe has opted to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day on Monday instead of Columbus Day. 

The City Council passed the resolution last month, a move that officials say was done to honor the people who lived on the land now called Tempe.

Indigenous People’s Day was first officially recognized in the city of Berkeley, California, in 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in America.

Last year, Gov. Doug Ducey signed a proclamation that the state of Arizona will honor both holidays simultaneously, as the city of Phoenix did in 2016.

Both Tempe and Flagstaff have opted to only celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, replacing Columbus Day entirely.

Vaughan Jones was a reporter at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.