The story of the explorer who discovered America and sailed the ocean in 1492 has been in question for years ever since his intentions and actions were brought to attention. Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the Americas, but he was by far not the first one to discover it in general. There were several tribes that were indigenous to the land and had created their own communities and social norms before Columbus even stepped foot onto the land.

Although, Christopher brought over diseases that were deadly at the time, he did expose these people, to many new concepts and inventions. Without this exploration, and the European push into the Americas, European technology would have never spread so quickly, and we would not be as advanced as we are today. The Europeans who came to the Americas, such as Christopher Columbus, in search of trade for spices in India, had ideals of owning people and owning land. These motives were incomprehensible to the natives who believed that the land was sacred and impossible to own.

Christopher Columbus and his people spread disease that killed the Native Americans very quickly, and left few for him to enslave for gold mining. The idea of celebrating a day in this man’s honor seems unfathomable to some people, but acceptable to some others. Some states and cities have already taken it upon themselves to change what the day is about. Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii do not recognize the second Monday of October as any holiday at all, whereas Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, and Berkley, California have switched the attention to celebrate the day as Indigenous People’s Day and South Dakota celebrates the day as Native Americans Day.

Sophomore, Jack Pierson does not believe we should celebrate Christopher Columbus Day because “he didn’t discover America, instead he just exploited the indigenous people who already lived there for his benefit. He tortured and murdered innocent human beings, as well as brought incurable diseases to the Americas, which in turn led to the decrease of these people. Though he is depicted as a heroic explorer, instead he was just a coward and an insanely inhumane power abuser.”

Another sophomore, Megan King, also does not believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated. “I personally don’t think that we should celebrate Columbus Day because even though Columbus is glorified and seen as the first person to discover the ‘new world,’ other people found it far before he did,” The idea that Columbus is a hero is becoming more and more of a stretch, thanks to modern day history classes teaching the truth of what happened in the past.

In opposition, junior Graysen Bormet thinks we should celebrate October 12 as Columbus Day   because, “he found America for the Europeans, and even though he had treated the Native Americans badly, I don’t think America would be like it is today without him.”

The controversy of keeping the holiday as a celebrated day off work and school in some areas will continue to be a constant discussion until it is a unified decision throughout the whole country. The places in America that recognize the natives on this day are doing good, and more places should follow in their footsteps.