Columbus Day shouldn’t be celebrated.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day should own the date instead.

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of San Salvador, known by its native residents as Guanahani. That day marked the true beginning of colonization in the Americas which ultimately affected the lives of millions of indigenous people forever.

In the centuries following that day, indigenous people throughout North and South America suffered under the whip of colonization. According to Business Insider over 50 million indigenous people had died by the year 1600. Columbus himself was responsible for immeasurable torture against indigenous people during his plundering voyages to the Americas.

Christopher Columbus was an explorer and invader who committed horrific atrocities. His diaries and records of others on his voyages speak of cutting off ears from noncompliant natives and testing the sharpness of his blades on indigenous people. When he left to go back home during his first voyage, he even kidnapped between ten and twenty-five natives. Only eight survived.

The classic story of “discovery” of the Americas followed with the deaths of millions of indigenous people. Deadly disease, bloody wars and brutal slavery, to name a few hardships, were consequences natives faced within a few years of…