Salem City Council Passes Indigenous Peoples' Day Ordinance

SALEM, MA — Salem residents will have a pair of holidays to recognize on the second Monday in October after a resolution to name the day Indigenous Peoples' Day in the city narrowly passed the Salem City Council Thursday night.

While all City Councilors who spoke were in favor of adding to Indigenous Peoples' Day to the Salem calendar at some point in the year, councilors were split on whether it should be on the same day as Columbus Day.

Two motions to send it back to committee for further discussion, and to entertain alternative dates, failed 6-5. The vote to pass the resolution then passed by the same 6-5 margin.

As a federal holiday, Columbus Day will still be observed as well.

"We shouldn't have two holidays on the same day," Councilor At-Large Alan Sargent said. "They both should have their own day of recognition."

Councilor Josh Turiel said he wasn't sure that was the case given the reexamination of Columbus' historical record in recent years.

"At the local level this is a change that's time has come," Turiel said. "Italian-Americans deserve our respect and honor. I just don't want to see Columbus as the name associated with it."

The resolution, which was endorsed by 34 city, school, community leaders and the city's representation in the state legislature, urges Salem residents: "to recognize and commemorate the occasion accordingly by reflecting on the legacy of the first peoples of this land, celebrating their contributions, and acknowledging the injustices suffered by them since 1626."

Both Councilor Stephen Dibble and Domingo Dominguez motioned to send the resolution to committee for further consideration, but said they supported the idea of an Indigenous Peoples' Day.

"It's going to happen," Dominguez said. "It's a great opportunity to celebrate their history."

But Dominguez said he wanted to "discuss it deeper" and "hear more from the public" with the idea of potentially coming up with an alternative date.

"I question the need to have two different groups recognized on the same day," Dibble reasoned.

Multiple ouncilors noted that November is Native American Heritage Month, and could be a better fit for the holiday, while October is Italian-American Heritage Month with many Italian-Americans holding Columbus Day dear.

Councilor Patricia Morsillo, who introduced the resolution, said it was not a question of supporting one group over another.

"This is not anti-Italian-American," she said. "I would never let something like that come before the City Council. I don't know how that is perceived to be anti-Italian-American."

The full resolution reads as follows:

WHEREAS the land that is today called the City of Salem was, for millennia before the arrival of Europeans here in 1626, called Naumkeag, or fishing place by the Massachusett peoples who lived here and called this place home; and

WHEREAS Nanepashemet and many other Massachusett Tribal leaders led their people from Naumkeag and the surrounding areas for millennia; and

WHEREAS Salem recognizes, values, and celebrates the many contributions made to our community, our Commonwealth, and our country by Indigenous Peoples' now and throughout our history; and

WHEREAS Indigenous Peoples of this region and throughout this nation suffered and endured egregious acts of cruelty, exploitation, dispossession, enslavement and genocide; and

WHEREAS Salem today is a community that celebrates and welcomes everyone, is dedicated to pursuing equity and justice, and is committed to policies and practices that seek to undo systemic racism and discrimination;

THEREFORE we, the undersigned hereby acknowledge that Salem is Indigenous land, honorthe resilience, survivance, and continuity of the Indigenous Peoples of our nation, and declare and recognize the second Monday of October of this year and for all years henceforth to be Indigenous Peoples Day in the city of Salem.

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