Trump wants to bring Columbus Day ‘back from the ashes,’ but it never went away

President Donald Trump recently took to Truth Social, sharing his desire to bring Columbus Day “back from the ashes.” But the federal holiday that began in 1934 under Franklin D. Roosevelt never actually went away — despite Joe Biden becoming the first U.S. president to observe Indigenous Peoples Day in 2021.

Azul Navarette-Valera, who identifies as an Indigenous Mexicana, shared Trump’s rhetoric – claiming Democrats “did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation and all of the Italians that love him so much” – is disheartening.

“It just shows he’s really out of touch,” said Navarette-Valera, “with what’s going on with the world surrounding him. Nationally, we’re in this progression of having more attention on Indigeneity and uplifting Indigenous voices. It’s just very disheartening, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

She spent the last five years working to remove the name of Christopher Columbus from a Tucson park. First known as Silverbell, the city changed it in 1990, with help from the Tucson Knights of Columbus chapter, to honor the quincentennial anniversary of the controversial Italian-born explorer’s 1492 voyage to the Americas.

Then in February, the Tucson City Council unanimously agreed to rename it after Tohono O’odham elder Danny Lopez.

“A lot of the time, Indigenous stories and history-making is erased by colonization,” added Navarette-Valera. “So we would like to decolonize that land and decolonize Native history by acknowledging that [Lopez] is part of Tucson and we don’t want to forget that.”

Even neighboring Mexico City replaced a bronze Columbus figure with a replica of a pre-Columbian statue known as the Young Woman of Amajac under then-Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum – now Mexico’s first female president.

Although some Arizona cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Tempe and Flagstaff acknowledge Indigenous Peoples Day, the Grand Canyon State still recognizes the second Monday in October as Columbus Day.

“So, what Trump means by ‘reinstating’ Columbus Day is something that he has to explain,” said David Martinez, who is Akimel O’odham-Mexican and director of Arizona State University’s Institute for Transborder Indigenous Nations. “If Trump expects Indigenous people to respect him as president, then he needs to treat us better.”