Should Columbus Day become Native American Day?

I meant no disrespect towards Native Americans at all, and I would like to apologize for any perceived slight. I see no reason why there shouldn't be a celebration of Native heritage. However, in my opinion, that is not the purpose of the holiday occurring on October 8.

My opinion, as badly worded as it was, was that we should alter the specific, existing holiday of Columbus Day. I believe that it should be shifted toward a celebration of exploration and the individuals and facets of various cultures that demonstrate the "explorers spirit". We should absolutely include and highlight the features of Native American civilization that fit within that view, as we should of native societies from all over the world.

Like him or not, and as misguided and uninformed as he was, Columbus was an explorer. And when he arrived on the land now known as the Americas, there were already people living here. Again, I admit, my word choice was poor, but that was all I was referring to. The celebration of native cultures (American or otherwise) under the guise of an "explorer's day", if you will, should focus on the explorations they conducted well before Columbus, not on the period of time during which they were established enough to be able to provide the survival support that you mentioned. I would have said that the Norwegians "just inhabited" Norway when considering Roald Amundsen. The celebration should focus on the viking and pre-viking civilizations that colonized the land and the individual explorers they produced.

Beats me! He was just on a boat with the wind carrying him west. He was clueless and thought he was somewhere else. I agree, we should celebrate exploration, and with that, we can dispense with Columbus and bring on any other explorer you like. There are plenty who pushed themselves and endured hardships and didn't behave as he did. Mr. C. wasn't just the bearer of band news for the indigenous people, he perpretrated some of the genocide himself, or by his order. As to 'us' just inhabiting the land, wow! Columbus and his ilk needed our help to survive. You're welcome.

Sad and True, most students with a public education do not know who Columbus or the Nina the pinto and the Santa Maria are! They can not sing "my country tis of the" and they cannot read or write, they do not know their math - they do know how to work a cell phone, play an XBox, most still love sports, fashion, and money!
It is too bad - what are we doing in school?
Why are kids so burnt out by middle school and they can't read write or spell? I do not work at a corrective school, either! If I work at a C school - I wonder what the students can do
at F schools!

It is doubtful that students of today learn the same one-sided lessons of days gone by ("In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...") Today's teachers, parents, and students are much more astute to the multiple perspectives of any event in history. We cannot change history. We must not revise our history, for our history defines our heritage . . . not our destiny. We learn from the mistakes of our past so that we do not repeat them in the future. Should we celebrate the accomplishments of this one man who is given credit for something he did not do and by all accounts was ruthless to the indigenous people in the process? Maybe we should celebrate his pioneering spirit, his willingness to explore and find a better way, his desire to discover to something new. He was not alone in that pursuit - there were many before and many since. If we were to keep this holiday in October, let Columbus be the champion for all explorers . . . past, present, and future . . . and call it Explorers' Day.

Both parties in this vote are worthy of celebration. All innovation comes with disruption, and the innovation Columbus brought was no exception. Personally, I think days honoring each would be good.

I believe it should stay as is in honor of the journey Columbus and his men went through. Their efforts to complete their task is what we honor, not their mistake in understanding and dealing with finding a new culture.
Nonetheless, I do think we should honor the Native Indians of every country in the continent. For that, another day should be chosen that is not related to Columbus "discovery" of the Americas.

The only component of Columbus' "discovery" of the Americas that we revere is his willingness and ability to push himself, and his crew, to their limits for nothing more than the desire to explore and to expand the existing knowledge of the world. Sure, he stole land from native peoples and did irreparable harm to their society. However, that doesn't entitle them to be honored just for inhabiting the land.

Instead, why don't we focus on the time and effort it takes members of all cultures to explore. The daring it takes to accept challenge and push beyond the boundaries of conventional wisdom. Honor those who explore space, honor those who explore the world under the ocean surface, honor Columbus for what he accomplished, but also honor the cultures and individuals who made discoveries before him, and those who came after.

Take away all their land, and natural resources, then throw them a few crumbs. Sounds fair to me.

it's easy to vilify columbus, thats why most people take the hard road to revere him instead

Lief Ericson doesnt have any evidence of ever being in america. in fact, if Lief ever went to america, then why did Colombo think he was going to India? Europeans would have shared the same maps.