Town joins Mashpee in changing Columbus Day label.

PROVINCETOWN — Next year, the Cape tip will be joining a growing number of cities and towns across the state and country that have opted to honor Native Americans on the second Monday in October — instead of the European explorer Christopher Columbus.

The Select Board voted last week to change the holiday's name from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, after the idea was raised by board member Lise King.

“There are a number of municipalities around the country, as well as entire states, that have been voting to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” King said. “I’m surprised, actually, that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has not yet taken this initiative.”

The vote, which came the day after Columbus Day, is largely symbolic because Columbus Day is the official state-celebrated holiday, but it would send a local statement, said Acting Town Manager David Gardner.

The board also voted to send a letter to state officials about the change.

Provincetown, the original landing place of the Pilgrims, has been trying to better represent Native Americans in the community. Plans for a Wampanoag memorial in time for the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim landing are being worked out, and the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum will have an exhibit focused on the real story of the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans on Cape Cod.

“We will be telling the accurate story about the history of the Wampanoag native people and their presence on Cape Cod, their interactions with the Mayflower Pilgrims and how they helped them survive, the significance of the Mayflower Compact, and how that history informs what we are today as a region and as a nation,” K. David Weidner, executive director of the monument and museum, said in June.

Provincetown follows Mashpee, which celebrated its first townwide Indigenous Peoples’ Day this year.

Follow Ethan Genter on Twitter: @EthanGenterCCT.