Woke row explodes in US over Columbus Day being renamed as Indigenous People's Day

But the federal Columbus Day holiday - created in 1934 - has been replaced by Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 14 states, the District of Columbia and more than 130 communities.

It comes after Native American advocates argued that Columbus isn’t an appropriate person to celebrate.

Columbus imposed brutal punishments on many Indigenous people, using them to mine gold as they faced amputation or death if they came up short.

It is estimated that in the 130 years following first contact, Native America lost 95 per cent of its population.

At least 33 cities have taken down their Columbus statues including Chicago where 49 police officers were injured in 2020 after coming under attack from rioters attempting to topple a statue in Grant Park.

Protesters launched sharpened pipes, frozen water bottles, rocks, and other weapons at police.

Danielle DeLuca co-founded Italian Americans for Indigenous People's Day and has led efforts to drop Columbus Day since 2016 and instead use it to celebrate other Italian Americans.

She said: "We believe that Indigenous Peoples Day should be its own holiday. It should not stand alongside Columbus Day. It should not stand alongside Italian Heritage Day.

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"We cannot celebrate Italian Americans on a day that is honouring Columbus. You just cannot celebrate a perpetrator of genocide and victims of genocide on the same day."

However, the decision to rename the celebration has received backlash from those who are calling for “no more Woke holidays”.

Writing on social media, New York councillor Vickie Paladino said: “As an Italian-American, Columbus Day will always hold a special place in my heart and no amount of woke madness will take that away.

“I will continue to celebrate Columbus Day proudly and I am proud to stand alongside my colleagues in the Italian Caucus in opposing the erasure of the Italian History in America.”

Former Member of the Florida House of Representatives, Anthony Sabatini added: “Happy Columbus Day! Florida must completely BAN the fake-holiday 'Indigenous Persons Day'.”

“No more Woke 'holidays' Make Columbus Day Great Again!”

Podcast star, Joey Mannarino also weighed in saying: “Happy Columbus Day! We recognize no other woke holidays on this day!”

Basil Russo, head of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organisations, continues to establish Columbus as a “good Christian” who treated Indigenous peoples “with respect and compassion.”

However, many advocates for Indigenous Peoples' Day are calling for a mass replacement for Columbus Day.