As a sponsor of legislation to have Massachusetts recognize Indigenous Peoples Day, Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, is making an annual appeal for her colleagues to act soon on the measure that has been stalled in the state Legislature.
While Comerford renewed her push for the legislation that would replace Columbus Day, Holyoke’s City Council approved an order on Tuesday that will change the city’s calendar sections to reflect that the second Monday in October will be Indigenous Peoples Day. Greenfield’s City Council took a similar vote last month that formalized its recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day and sent a resolution to city departments and organizations, although some of the city’s social media pages had reflected the holiday previously.
Though the state and federal holiday continues to honor Christopher Columbus, for Comerford, the 250th anniversary of the United States is an appropriate time to set aside the recognition of Columbus and instead honor Indigenous tribes.
“His arrival marked the beginning of colonization, dispossession, enslavement and violence against Indigenous people,” Comerford said. “That is not an inconvenient footnote. It is part of our history, and we have a responsibility to tell it honestly — especially as we mark 250 years of America.”
Comerford added, “Our commonwealth has an opportunity — and an obligation — to take an honest look at our history and ask what kind of commonwealth we want to pass on.”
The legislation Comerford filed in the current 2025-2026 legislative session is S.2113, “An Act Establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day.” Rep. Christine Barber, D-Somerville, sponsored the same proposal, H.3292, in the House.
The Senate bill was sent to study, while the House version was referred to the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling in late 2025. In each of the previous two sessions, 2021-2022 and 2023-2024, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight reported the legislation favorably.
Comerford said Columbus Day is not needed as a way to recognize Italian-Americans.
“We can honor Italian-American heritage. And we can honor Indigenous people,” she said. “In 2021, President Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples Day. It is time for Massachusetts to do the same.”
