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SALT LAKE CITY — Native Americans crowded into a committee room at the Capitol on Wednesday to show support for a bill that would change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in Utah.
SB170 sponsor Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee that five states have changed the name of the holiday. The committee voted 3-1 to advance the bill to the full Senate, drawing cheers from those who attended the meeting.
Like Pioneer Day in Utah is not just an LDS Church holiday, Dabakis said, Indigenous Peoples Day would not be just about Native Americans.
"It's a day that we take and we create an atmosphere of understanding and appreciation for those who went before and sacrificed, and those who helped to create the culture that we have," Dabakis said of Pioneer Day, noting that Indigenous Peoples Day would do the same.
"It is their blood that was here when we arrived," Dabakis said, pointing to the Native Americans in the audience.
Kyle Ethelbah, director of the federal TRIO programs at the University of Utah, said Columbus Day contributes to Native American students' mindset that they aren't capable of greatness.
Ethelbah said the "myth of Columbus" made him feel like he was "of little value" and "of little worth" while he was growing up.
Indigenous Peoples Day would change that mindset, he said, by celebrating Native American heritage.
Gayle Ruzicka, representing the Utah Eagle Forum, spoke against the bill.
"Christopher Columbus is a hero to a lot of people," Ruzicka said, adding that she and a young girl standing next to her had written each of the lawmakers a note expressing her respect for Columbus.
"I think for all of us that love Christopher Columbus … and want to celebrate that day, we should be able to continue to do that," Ruzicka said.
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, noted that Utah changed its Civil Rights Day to match the federal holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2000. Email: elarson@deseretnews.com
