New Mexico has officially gotten rid of Columbus Day, replacing the holiday with Indigenous People’s Day.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Tuesday to replace the holiday honoring the Italian explorer with a day celebrating members of the indigenous community, her office confirmed. The holiday will still be a legal public holiday and fall on the second Monday of October.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that she was “proud” to legalize the new holiday.
“This new holiday will mark a celebration of New Mexico’s 23 sovereign indigenous nations and the essential place of honor native citizens hold in the fabric of our great state,” she said. “Enacting Indigenous People’s Day sends an important message of reconciliation and will serve as a reminder of our state’s proud native history.”