CLEVELAND — Cleveland council members are calling for the city to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples' Day and will address the issue on Monday.
Councilman Basheer Jones will lead a news conference along with city council members Anthony Hairston, Joe Jones and Jasmine Santana.
The council members will be joined by Cynthia Connolly, an executive board member of the Lake Erie Native American Council.
Indigenous Peoples' Day is an annual holiday that honors Native Americans and commemorates their history and culture.
The holiday began as a counter-celebration of Columbus Day, a holiday many groups believe represents a violent history of colonization.
Indigenous Peoples' Day is observed on October 14, the same day as Columbus Day.
Last year, Cincinnati became the first major city in Ohio to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. The city of Columbus chose to not observe its namesake holiday at all.
Columbus Day is a federal holiday recognized by the U.S. government, but states and local governments are able to choose not to observe a federal holiday.
The news conference calling for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day in Cleveland will be held Monday, May 6 at 5:45 p.m. on the front steps of Cleveland City Hall.
