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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the Administrative Code of Allegheny County, §5-1009.08, entitled “Paid County Holidays,” in order to designate the second Monday in October as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” rather than “Columbus Day.”
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Whereas, more and more communities across the country are opting to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, including the city of Pittsburgh in 2014 and the federal government in 2021; and
Whereas, as of the date of introduction of this Ordinance, numerous states have opted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day or other named days instead of or in addition to Columbus Day, as follow: Hawaii (Discoverers’ Day, since 1988), South Dakota (Native American Day, since 1989), Alaska (Indigenous Peoples’ Day, since 2015), Minnesota (Indigenous Peoples’ Day, since 2016), Vermont (added Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2016, and ceased celebrating Columbus Day in 2019), Iowa and North Carolina (both began celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2018), California (recommended observance by private employers only, since 2019), the District of Columbia, Maine and New Mexico (all three of which began celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day in 2019), Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and Wisconsin (all four of which added Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2019), Nebraska and Virginia (both of which added Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2020), Oregon and Texas (both of which added Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021), and Massachusetts (which added Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2022); and
Whereas, numerous cities and local governments throughout the United States began following the same practice as early as Berkeley, CA in 1992; and
Whereas, while Christopher Columbus is often generally credited with the “discovery” of America, large populations of indigenous people were already living in North America, South America, and throughout the Caribbean well before 1492; and
Whereas, significant evidence exis...
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