# Columbus Day v Indigenous People's Day v Leif Erikson Day

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 11, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323 "2021-10-11T21:56:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 140

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbus-day-v-indigenous-peoples-day-v-leif-erikson-day/952323/140 "2021-10-26T21:36:35Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> There were huge swathes of the country that remained effectively under Native control until nearly the end of the 19th century. Land use, hunting and so on by Native Americans fundamentally shaped the environment of North America that European settlers then modified further.

Those Native Americans either assimilated (sometimes by force), or died. At the point of assimilation their history becomes our own, only then do I identify them as “us”, meaning part of the same nation that I belong to. Otherwise their history is ours only so far as our nations were allied or _their_ actions influenced _our_ history.

> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> But history, real history, is about more than “national identity”.

You are right on all points with this, but I would distinguish between history in the general sense and national history, and also between a commemoration or celebration and a national holiday. Reinforcing the _national_ identity is an appropriate purpose for a _national_ holiday, in my opinion.

~Max

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