Last week, the City of Austin joined about 60 other U.S. cities (and a few states) in replacing the official celebration of “Col­um­bus Day” with “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” in recognition of the people who originally inhabited what eventually became the Americas when Christopher Columbus arrived (Oct. 12, 1492). In the local context, the City Council resolution noted, “The area around present-day Austin is one of the long­est continually inhabited sites in North Ameri­ca and was home to many different groups, bands, and tribes of Indigenous Peoples for at least 13,000 years.” The popular mythology surrounding Columbus has increasingly come under question in recent decades, although the Oct. 9 Columbus Day declaration from the Donald Trump White House acknowledged only “the skilled navigator and man of faith, whose courageous feat brought together continents and has inspired countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions – even in the face of extreme doubt and tremendous adversity.”

Council voted 9-1-1 to make the change (“Goodbye, Columbus,” Oct. 6). Sources at City Hall report some negative public reaction, but not much. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick was quick to use the city’s decision as another occasion to bash Austin “extremists.” “Today is Columbus Day,” he wrote in a fundraising letter. “It’s not ‘some other people’s day,’ regardless of what Austin and some other cities have decided to call it.”

Vincenzo Arcobelli, North American chair­man of the Comitato Tricolore per gli Italiani nel Mondo (Tricolor Committee of Italians Around the World) wrote to Mayor Steve Adler and the Council protesting the change, expressing “total disappointment and indignation … regarding the replacement of the holiday which represents the role of and contributions to the United States by Italians and Italian-Americans.” Arcobelli describes the Council action as an affront to all Italian-Americans, but doesn’t address the litany of criticisms of Columbus, except to say: “Actions from 500 years ago cannot be viewed through the prism of today.” He asks that the Council reconsider the decision and requests a response from the mayor.

Asked for any response to the criticisms of the Council’s decision, Adler declined to comment directly, effectively dismissing the controversy with a reference to his recent cameo in a music video promoting the study of math for high school students (“Mo’ Math Mo’ Money”). Through a spokesman, the mayor replied: “You make one rap video, and suddenly you’re a target.”

Contested Columbian Territory

A version of this article appeared in print on Oct 13, 2017 with the headline: Contested Columbian Territory

This article appears in October 13 • 2017.

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Contributing writer and former news editor Michael King has reported on city and state politics for the Chronicle since 2000. He was educated at Indiana University and Yale, and from 1977 to 1985 taught at UT-Austin. He has been the editor of the Houston Press and The Texas Observer, and has reported and written widely on education, politics, and cultural subjects.