This Monday, the United States celebrates Columbus Day.The government established Columbus Day as a national holiday long agoto honor the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.It recognizes his arrival in what Europeans called the New World in 1492.Today some U.S. cities and areas are moving away from honoring Columbusand instead celebrating the native peoples of North America.Wisconsin is one of the latest areas to declare the second Monday in October Indigenous People's Day.Wisconsin's governor said earlier this monththat his state recognizes and thanks tribal nations and native people.The state has 11 recognized American Indian tribes.Tehassi Hill is the chairman of the Oneida Nation.He says that celebrating Indigenous People's Daycan help Americans learn about tribal culture and history.But, he notes, moving from Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day has taken a long time.The first reported celebration of Christopher Columbus's arrivaltook place in the United States in 1792.Later, some Italian-Americans began celebrating the Italian exploreras part of their cultural history.In the 1930s, Columbus Day became a national holiday.But native people have long objected to honoring the explorer,note writers on the Smithsonian Institution's blog.They say that the arrival of Columbus – along with other colonizers– led to the deaths and forced assimilation of millions of native people.They add, "Indigenous People's Day recognizes that Native Peopleare the first inhabitants of the Americas ... And it urges Americans to rethink history."Recently, the city government of Washington, DC approved a measureto honor Indigenous People's Day instead of Columbus Day, at least for this year.One of the supporters of the measure is politician David Grosso.He pointed out in a statement that Columbus did not discover North America,or even walk on the land that today is the United States.Opponents of the measure said Italian-American votersdid not like the idea of changing the name of the holiday.Others objected on social media to what they consider the re-writing of American history.But supporters from many areas claim that celebrating Columbusas the person who "discovered" the New World is simply inaccurate.And, they say, honoring him as a hero ignores the violence, slavery,and disease his arrival brought to native Americans.With Wisconsin, at least eight states have already moved away from observing Columbus Day.But it remains a federal holiday.