Currently, most state governments celebrate Columbus Day on the second Monday in October each year. Georgia is no exception.

Please join us in telling the Georgia General Assembly and Governor Brian Kemp to change the state holiday calendar, remove Columbus Day, and honor the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day.

Columbus Day glorifies a contested narrative of American “discovery” and erases the trauma of genocide of Native peoples in the Americas. In fact, historians note that Columbus never set foot on North America, but entered the Americas through the Carribean Islands. When he did land, he committed countless atrocities and acts of violence that decimated Native populations in the area. Even if Columbus had landed in North America, anthropologists estimate that Native people had been there for more than 30,000 years prior to first contact, leaving very little to “discover”. Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day is a step toward healing the wounds that colonization has caused specifically to Native Americans and Indigenous people in South and Central America.

This would be a major step toward improving Native representation in Georgia - something which has historically been lacking. Georgia has done a particularly poor job of supporting Native peoples and acknowleding their sorted history with Native American tribes and lands. 

This petition is organized by the Native American Student Association at the University of Georgia. If your group would like to be added to the list of supporting organizations, please email us at nasauga@gmail.gom.