New Mexico officially replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday signed legislation into law that abolishes Columbus Day and replaces the national holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day.
The new law removes Columbus Day from the list of official state holidays and replaces it with a holiday celebrating Native Americans and their history.
According to The Associated Press, the new holiday will be celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is traditionally the day Columbus Day is observed.
The move arrives several weeks after the New Mexico state Senate voted to approve legislation abolishing the federal holiday.
Proponents of the measure argued that the passage of the bill would better reflect the state’s culture.
According to 2017 U.S. census data, Native Americans make up more than 12 percent of the state’s population.
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