Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024: What’s open, closed

With Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day both falling on Monday, will any businesses or services be open on the holiday?

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated it as a national holiday in 1934, according to the Library of Congress. Now a federal holiday, the second Monday of October has been celebrated as Columbus Day since 1971.

However, the day is more widely becoming known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day as people push for the holiday to have a rebrand because of the holiday’s namesake, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, and the bloodshed he left behind in North America.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been recognized through proclamation for the past three years. It is not a federal holiday, but President Joe Biden proclaimed the day to “honor perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples.”

Columbus Day, which is a federal holiday, is “one of the most inconsistently celebrated U.S. holidays,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Is Columbus Day still a federal holiday?

Despite the inconsistency and the controversy, the federal holiday is still recognized. Columbus Day is one of 11 federal holidays, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

When is Columbus Day 2024?

Columbus Day is Monday, Oct. 14.

When is Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2024?

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is observed on the same day, Monday, Oct. 14.

Is the post office open on Columbus Day?

No, the post office’s retail locations will be closed in observance of Columbus Day, and there will be no mail delivery at homes or offices.

Anyone in need of shipping supplies can still order them from the post office’s website.

Are banks open on Columbus Day?

Banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America will also be closed for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day.

Chase’s branches will be opened, but it will treat online transactions the same way it would on a regularly observed federal holiday.

What about other federal offices?

All non-essential federal offices will also be closed on the holiday.

For example, agencies like Federal Student Aid will be closed on Monday. It will not send funds to universities on the day either, but its website will still accept data and remain operational, it said in a news release.

What is Columbus Day, and why is it celebrated?

Columbus Day commemorates explorer Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

Columbus, an Italian explorer leading a Spanish exploration, landed in the Americas in 1492. His arrival initiated the European colonization of the Americas, as well as the trade of goods, animals and people in what became known as the Columbian Exchange.

Columbus Day has been celebrated by some Italian Americans, and has been a controversial federal holiday for some Native Americans.

Why don’t people celebrate Christopher Columbus Day?

The grade school lesson about the explorer Christopher Columbus sailing the “ocean blue” is incomplete.

Indigenous communities lived in the Western Hemisphere for tens of thousands of years before Columbus arrived, and contact with European colonies led to devastating loss of life, tradition and land for American Indians, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

While not everywhere in the U.S. recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day, advocates say it’s important to denounce Columbus’ violent history and recognize Native American communities today.

The controversial Italian explorer became infamous because of the way he treated Indigenous people.

The explorer is said to have done the following to Indigenous people, according to the History Channel:

• Used violence and slavery
• Introduce and spread new diseases
• Attempt to convert them to Christianity

Critics of the current federal holiday point out that Columbus also committed several crimes against humanity when he reached the Western Hemisphere. Here are some examples of those atrocities, as compiled by Philadelphia Magazine:

• Columbus cut off the hands of approximately 10,000 natives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic because they failed to provide gold every three months.
• Columbus cut off the legs of native children who tried to run from them.
• He aided in sex trafficking nine and ten-year-old girls.

Because of this, states and cities began only to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day or acknowledge both.

Is Indigenous Peoples’ Day an official holiday?

It depends on where you live.

Approximately 29 states and Washington, D.C. do not celebrate Columbus Day. About 216 cities have renamed it or replaced it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, according to renamecolumbusday.org. Some states recognize Indigenous Peoples Day via proclamation, while others treat it as an official holiday. 

At the federal level, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has received presidential proclamations from the Biden administration for the last three years.

“Indigenous peoples are a beacon of resilience, strength, and perseverance as well as a source of incredible contributions. Indigenous peoples and Tribal Nations continue to practice their cultures, remember their heritages, and pass down their histories from generation to generation,” Biden wrote in the 2023 proclamation on the holiday.

Moving away from Columbus Day and celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day helps to recognize Indigenous perspectives for a more complete look at history, the Smithsonian stated.

By celebrating Indigenous People’s Day, the museum says we can also recognize the Native Americans who are still here and fighting for recognition and environmental rights.