OHIO — Monday was a federal holiday with locations like banks and the post office closed, a tradition that started as Columbus Day in order to honor Christopher Columbus.

However, cities like Columbus no longer celebrate Columbus Day, honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead. In Akron, it's Italian American Heritage and Culture Day while North American First People’s Day is celebrated the first Monday in October. 

In Cleveland, Columbus Day is marked with a large parade in Little Italy. Spectrum News 1 explored how different communities marked this day, and why it's important to them.

What You Need To Know

  • Monday was a federal holiday with locations like banks and the post office closed, a tradition that started as Columbus Day in order to honor Christopher Columbus

  • In Cleveland, Columbus Day is marked with a large parade in Little Italy

  • Some cities like Columbus no longer celebrate Columbus Day, honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead

The community of Little Italy’s Columbus Day parade featured around 100 groups, school marching bands and hand-made colorful floats.

But Basil Russo, president of Italian Sons and Daughters of America, is hoping people know how Columbus Day began.

“The first Columbus Day celebration was in 1892, to commemorate the largest mass lynching in American history when 11 Italian immigrants were lynched in the city of New Orleans,” he said.

Russo said celebrating the holiday is more important now than ever.

“A lot of people are very, very misinformed about the holiday,” he said. “There have been a lot of false allegations that have been made about Columbus.”

Russo said Italians have been subjected to discrimination since coming to America and that this is a day to honor their rich culture.

“It’s especially heartwarming to see people celebrate their heritage,” he said. “Every group, every group that came to this country made meaningful contributions to America, for which that group can be justly proud.”

Jessica Vallejo is the secretary of the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance and is of Native American descent. She is celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which recognizes the rich history and culture of indigenous people while also honoring their often painful history.

“So for me I have never been disconnected from my identity as an Indigenous person and as a survivor of genocide, as a person who had just traveled north and that I’m part of many tribes in my bloodline,” she said.

Vallejo is doing everything in her power to make sure Indigenous people have the respect and dignity they deserve even though they don’t have reservation land designated as tribal territory in the state of Ohio.

“We’re able to still learn and communicate in those traditions with our families and then learn from each other,” she said.

While both holidays occur on the same day, Russo is hopeful those who celebrate each holiday can come to appreciate each other.

“We need to come together,” he said. “We need to talk. We need to better understand one another so that we can appreciate one another.”