Do you call today’s holiday Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? How about Leif’s Lost Day?
Columbus Day is actually October 12, but using Monday holidays, this year, it falls on October 14. Call the day what you want but know some of the history.
By indigenous people, the reference is Indians or Native Americans (there was no America when Indians arrived, though). I know this because I received an email from an organization I belong to. It will be closed on Monday to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
It went on to state that the day was first recognized in Berkeley, California, in 1992 after a long struggle by activists seeking recognition of Indigenous people. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation wiping out Columbus Day and creating Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
The first people to come to North America were from Asia, although there is a weak alternative theory. The Native Americans from Asia theory
would then mean they were a force of immigrants. By the time European settlers arrived, Indians were already making land grabs, killing each other, and practicing slavery-all of this on each other. Remember the 1619 Project? The 1619 Project ignores anything before 1619, and it’s fiction anyway.
That said, Columbus never reached the shores of North America, but we know from grade school, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” We can credit him for having the courage to make the trip some believed couldn’t be made and for finding the so-called New World. And it’s okay to ignore Erikson on being first, even though he showed up 500 years earlier.
According to Icelandic sagas, Leif set sail from Greenland to North America in a roundabout way. He traveled in the opposite direction, from Greenland to Norway, which was intentional.
On his return voyage to Greenland, a storm blew his ship off course, and he discovered the North American continent, but not by design. Since he was already there, he decided to explore and establish a settlement called Vinland. So, he was in Newfoundland in Canada today, although the exact location of Vinland has yet to be discovered.
An unintended 
detour during his return trip brought him to North America. A storm blew him off course. In theory, he could have made the trip in three or so days before he would have known he was going in the wrong direction. Leif was lost, so it was more of an accidental discovery of North America.
By the way, there is Leif Erikson Day, an annual observance on October 9 to honor him. In approximately 1000, he was the first European believed to have set foot on the North American continent. Notice I used the word “European.” But wait, it gets better.
Geographically, Greenland is part of the North American continent. It is politically an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It’s closer to the North American mainland but influenced by European ties. Technically, Erikson resided in North America when he “accidentally discovered” it. Call it fake news. October 9 is bogus, too, but chosen for a reason.
My father’s family came from Norway. A date was needed, so the date was chosen because the first Norwegian immigrants arrived in New York Harbor on October 9, 1825, more than 800 years later. It commemorates a fictitious date, but why quibble?