Cheers and applause followed Aquinnah voters’ 57-3 vote to officially replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day during its special town meeting on Wednesday, April 26.
The special town meeting took place at Aquinnah Town Hall, and was packed with residents ready with electronic voting machines.
Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day was unanimously endorsed by the Aquinnah select board in 2021. The symbolic approval made Aquinnah, current home base of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the first Island town to officially endorse the holiday. The inaugural Indigenous’ Peoples’ Day celebration on Martha’s Vineyard also took place the same year. And last June, Martha’s Vineyard schools decided to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Select board chair Juli Vanderhoop, who is also a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe, told The Times she was really happy to see the change implemented, but was “very surprised” by the nay votes.
“We need to do justice for the peoples in the entire country, and bring recognition to those who really haven’t received it,” she said. “Bringing it to the town was an amazing thing.”
While she said the holiday change is a positive step, Vanderhoop said the town needs to go even farther. Recognition of indigenous people needs to happen in “our territorial lands all over New England,” according to Vanderhoop.
While President Joe Biden did declare Oct. 10 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Columbus Day is still recognized as a state and federal holiday.
Two more celebrations were added as town holidays in the same personnel bylaw amendment. One was Cranberry Day, an ancient tradition for the tribe. The town will celebrate Cranberry Day on the second Tuesday of October. And Juneteenth will be celebrated on June 19. A commemoration of the ending of slavery, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
