Gov. Katie Hobbs backs renaming, refocusing October holiday as Indigenous Peoples Day

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a first-term Democrat, said Monday she would support making Indigenous Peoples Day an official holiday in the Grand Canyon State.

But the initial steps to make that recognition a reality — getting a bill through the Legislature and onto the governor's desk — have proven impossible in recent Arizona history.

Native American lawmakers in Arizona since 2020 have sought to change state law to recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, according to a review of bills introduced in the Legislature. Arizona law now says that state holiday is Columbus Day, instead designating June 2 as Native American Day after a push from lawmakers in 2018.

Hobbs voiced her support while speaking to reporters after an event in Chandler marking the donation of the late grocery magnate Eddie Basha's collection of Native and Western art to local museums.

"Certainly if it passes and gets to my desk, I will sign it," Hobbs said of a bill that would make Indigenous Peoples Day an official holiday. She didn't say whether she would make renaming and refocusing the October holiday a policy priority next year, when the Legislature resumes its work, saying she hadn't yet spoken to Indigenous lawmakers likely to introduce such a measure.

Hobbs also signed a proclamation declaring Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, to "encourage all citizens to acknowledge the historic sacrifices of Indigenous people, and recognize their contributions to our great state." Her predecessor, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, issued a similar proclamation in 2020 to honor Arizona's 22 tribes.

A gubernatorial proclamation doesn't carry the same gravity as making the day an official holiday, as cities such as Phoenix and Tempe have done.

What is Indigenous Peoples' Day?Here's how Arizona celebrates it

Only 16 states officially recognize Columbus Day, and an increasing number of state governments are moving away from celebrating the explorer Christopher Columbus in favor of honoring the heritage of Indigenous communities forever changed by colonialism.

Seventeen states have holidays honoring Native Americans, though not all are on the second Monday in October, according to a state-by-state review by the Pew Research Center.

While Indigenous Peoples Day is becoming more popular in name, Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, and a member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe, said she tracked Arizona bills to create a day honoring Native Americans back to 1997.

Gonzales has introduced multiple bills to designate the October holiday as Indigenous Peoples Day and erase Columbus Day, and vowed to do so again next year.

"Until we change the law, until my colleagues decide to acknowledge our history and to honor all the people of the Americas, it's not going to be a successful day in government as far as I'm concerned," Gonzales said. "We really need to pay tribute to what we have accomplished and what we have endured, and what we have contributed to this country."

On June 2, 2019, Arizona marked its first Native American Day, commemorating the date in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which gave citizenship to any Native American born within the country. Ducey signed the bill, sponsored by former Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai, into law to create the holiday, though Peshlakai pledged to continue her efforts to remake Columbus Day into a day honoring Indigenous people.

Peshlakai resigned from the Legislature to join the Biden administration, and now her mother, Rep. Mae Peshlakai, a Democrat and chair of the Legislature's Indigenous Peoples Caucus, will carry on the effort. Mae Peshlakai, from the Navajo Nation community of Cameron, said she felt disappointed that past efforts had failed but hopeful for the future with Democrats in the Governor's Office and White House.

"With Governor Hobbs and President Biden signing the proclamation in (Washington,) D.C. today, that gives all of us hope that people are coming to realize that there were people here before Columbus came," Mae Peshlakai said.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.