LANSING, Mich. — Statues of Christopher Columbus have been vandalized around the country Monday on the U.S. holiday that was named for him.
The explorer has become a controversial figure in recent years.
A statue in Providence, Rhode Island was splashed from head to toe with red paint and a sign reading "stop celebrating genocide" was leaning against the pedestal, and another statue was vandalized in San Francisco.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has joined several other states in changing Columbus Day to "Indigenous Peoples Day."
East Lansing is one of the increasing number of cites across the country that is opting to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day rather than Columbus Day. It's a polarizing debate across the nation, but MSU students are happy their city recognizes change.
"As Americans, we did do a lot of bad things to Indigenous people so I think that they should be celebrated for the sacrifices they made," Ranajea Henry, a freshman at MSU said.
"It's good to know that it was their place first," a sophomore at MSU said. "Sometimes we need to remember that."
Last Friday, Gov. Whitmer signed a proclamation declaring Monday, Oct. 14 as Indigenous Peoples' Day, which is something that a member of MSU Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) is proud of.
"It's always a great feeling just because you have people in high positions, you have people who can effect change and who recognize the issue and are taking steps to rectify hundreds of years of wrong history," NALSA Vice President Kacey Chopito said.
There are 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan and more than 500 nationwide. Some people want to keep the day as Columbus Day, but Chopito said that can be hurtful.
"Wherever you are in this country, you're going to be surrounded by Indigenous culture. There's thousands of years of history and so to say 'let's just leave it as Columbus Day' it's just continuing the erasure of Indigenous history," Chopito said.
Chopito said the goal of the day is to educate people about what Native Americans went through and still go through.
A march is being held to promote Indigenous' Peoples Day awareness and education and will end at the rock on MSU's campus at 6:30 p.m.
Eight states and more than 130 cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in the United States and there are many people who celebrate Columbus Day. In fact, Chicago holds a parade each year on the holiday.
Many Italian-Americans consider Columbus Day a celebration of their heritage and consider the defacing of Columbus Statues to be an insult toward them.
"When I saw it, it was disheartening. I have my opinion, you have your opinion, but to desecrate a statue, it doesn't prove anything. It doesn't gain anything positive out of that," one person upset about the vandalized statue said.
Columbus Day became a federal holiday back in 1937 and commemorates Columbus' arrival in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.
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