Skip to content

It’s ‘Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day‘ weekend in Philly after a court ruling

An appeals court ruled in August that former-Mayor Jim Kenney’s 2021 order replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day is invalid.

Councilmember Mark Squilla and his wife Brigid pose for a photo with Parade Grand Marshall Joe Piscopo and Jerry Blavat (right, "The Geator with the Heater" and "The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce”) on South Broad Street in the annual Columbus Day Parade Oct.10, 2021. Squilla was celebrating his 59th birthday this day.
Councilmember Mark Squilla and his wife Brigid pose for a photo with Parade Grand Marshall Joe Piscopo and Jerry Blavat (right, "The Geator with the Heater" and "The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce”) on South Broad Street in the annual Columbus Day Parade Oct.10, 2021. Squilla was celebrating his 59th birthday this day.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
    by Abraham Gutman
    Updated 
    Published 

On Monday, Philadelphia’s City Hall offices will be closed for “Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

That’s what the city is calling the holiday following an August Commonwealth Court ruling that nixed a 2021 executive order replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.

The combination name is used by other public entities, such as the Free Library of Philadelphia, which will be closed Monday “in observance of Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

The Philadelphia School District’s cultural calendar refers to Monday only as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

The city’s interim chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, Donna Jackson Stephans, will represent Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and the administration at an Indigenous Peoples Day event Monday.

» READ MORE: Kenney’s 2021 order replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day is invalid, appeals court says

The 1492 Society, an Italian American heritage nonprofit that was among the entities that sued the city, was planning a slew of events this weekend intended to culminate in a parade on Sunday, which was canceled Friday due to the weather forecast.

“Welcome back Columbus Day,” the flier for the festivities read.

On Monday, Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly Inc. will host its ninth annual event at the historic Shackamaxon Park, known today as Penn Treaty Park.

The organization called on City Council to pass a bill making Indigenous Peoples’ Day the official name in Philadelphia for the second Monday of October.

“The movement in the city that perpetrates the legacy of Columbus, a figure associated with heinous actions, has caused immeasurable harm to Native Americans in Philadelphia,” the group asked supporters to write to their Council members. “It is time to acknowledge this history and make a change that reflects our values.”

» READ MORE: What’s open and closed in Philly on Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day: Trash pickup, mail, grocery stores, and more

Monday’s holiday is the first since Commonwealth Court ruled that the name change via executive order was invalid.

In a unanimous decision, the seven appeals court judges found that by eliminating a city holiday and creating a new one, then-Mayor Jim Kenney engaged in “lawmaking” that is reserved for City Council.

Councilmembers Mark Squilla, who was among those who brought the lawsuit, said in August he didn’t think Council had the appetite to change the holiday through legislation, and he hoped the ruling would “put the issue to rest moving forward.”

One of Squilla’s colleagues, Councilmember Nina Ahmad, had planned to introduce a bill in September to formally recognize both holidays, Axios reported. But Ahmad shelved her plan to continue having conversations around the issue.