KALAMAZOO, MI -- The city of Kalamazoo will acknowledge Indigenous People's Day instead of Columbus Day in October.

During a Monday meeting, the Kalamazoo City Commission voted unanimously to approve a resolution recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday of October each year. The move is symbolic, as Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said Kalamazoo does not recognize Columbus Day in any way.

Meawhile, the City Commission spoke at length about what to do about racist interpretations of the Fountain of the Pioneers. During the Monday meeting, several people called for the removal of the fountain in Bronson Park, which has come under fire for its perceived celebration of white supremacy.

After hours of discussion Monday, Mayor Bobby Hopewell said the commission will need to figure out what it wants to do. Commissioners didn't make a motion regarding the fountain, but agreed to re-open the conversation.

The Indigenous Peoples Day resolution encourages businesses, organizations, and public entities to recognize the holiday.

It was first proposed to the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas in 1977 by a delegation of native nations as an alternative to celebrating the voyage of Christopher Columbus.

Columbus Day became Federal Holiday in 1934 under the pen of President Franklin Roosevelt to commemorate the voyage of the Italian navigator, who sailed to the Americas on behalf of Spain in 1492. Before 1943, Americans had historically observed the anniversary of the expedition since colonial times.

In recent years, a growing number of states and municipalities across the country, including prominent Michigan cities of Detroit, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Ypsilanti, have decided to no longer officially observe Columbus Day.

City Attorney Clyde Robinson said he drafted the resolution based on similar ones passed in other Michigan communities. He felt recognizing "indigenous" people takes a more global view.

The states of Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, South Dakota, and Vermont do not recognize Columbus Day at all; instead they mark the day with an alternative holiday or observance.

Proponents of Indigenous Peoples Day believe the holiday is an opportunity to educate citizens about indigenous cultures that suffered under an often violent colonization process and continue to exist and thrive in present day America.

A significant portion of what today is the city of Kalamazoo was formerly occupied by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians.

The Kalamazoo resolution was a response to concerns from residents during an Oct. 2 meeting.

Residents, native descendants and speakers from outside of Kalamazoo also said the Fountain of the Pioneers represents white supremacy.

Some find the image of a Native American in headdress standing face-to-face with a weapon-wielding settler to be a monument to forced removal of the indigenous Pottawatomi tribe, or a grim reminder of the country's harsh treatment of native peoples.

The fountain was covered with a tarp before the City Commission meeting started. Chamberlain said this was not done by city staff.

The residents would like to either see the fountain removed or placed in a museum, and do not want it to be restored as part of planned improvements to Bronson Park.

Designed by Midwestern modernist artist, sculptor and designer Alfonso Iannelli, the statue and fountain display is Bronson Park's most prominent feature.

Iannelli himself said in 1940:

"Regarding the meaning of the Fountain of the pioneers, the scheme of the fountain conveys the advance of the pioneers and the generations that follow, showing the movement westward, culminating in the tower symbol of the pioneer ... while the Indian is shown in posture of noble resistance, yet being absorbed as the white man advances."

The Fountain of the Pioneers complex was dedicated on June 6, 1940. The 76-year-old monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 28.

David Brose, a member of Kalamazoo's Historic Preservation Commission, said the fountain calls on residents to think about uncomfortable historic facts. He said it's an effective reminder that despite the "ill intentions" of the United States government, native peoples are still here.

Others didn't buy that interpretation.

"We're asking folks to deal with the fact that this fountain makes their children cry so people brought about through American society can have something that brings up a (topic) of discussion," said Commissioner Matt Milcarek.

Milcarek said it's only a matter of time until the fountain is removed, and it will be done with shame that it stood for so long.

Commissioner Shannon Sykes Nehring has repeatedly spoken out against the fountain's perceived racist implications during public meetings. Earlier this year, she made a connection between the fountain and a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville that inspired violent demonstrations in Virginia.

Vice Mayor Don Cooney agreed. Commissioners Jack Urban and Erin Knott said the statue has negative connotations, but whether it should be removed is less clear.

Meanwhile, Oct. 11 letter to Hopewell from Gun Lake Tribal Chairman Scott Sprague states the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of the Pottawatomi Indians "sincere desire" to work with Kalamazoo on the issue.

The Tribe appreciates the collaboration with city leaders to improve the historic elements of Bronson Park, the letter states, including the creation of educational elements regarding the Tribe. However, the letter does not give the Tribe's stance on the Iannelli sculpture.

A free educational app launched in July as part of a campaign to "accurately portray" the history of indigenous Native Americans in Kalamazoo.

In a partnership with the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi, the app was developed as part of a $2.8 million campaign for significant landscaping and infrastructure improvements to Bronson Park.

Digital markers stand at the four corners of the Gun Lake Band's historic reservation, allowing videos and other content to be viewed through the "Next Exit History" app.

According to the app, Iannelli wished to commemorate what he understood to be the "stoic, but futile, resistance" of Native American tribes to westward expansion. At the same time, it notes that he was ignorant of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band and other Pottawatomi tribes.

A Michigan Humanities Council grant funded the app project, which features members of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians. Using their own words and images, the Pottawatomi tell heir story of Euro-American betrayal, resistance to removal, cultural re-engagement and community stewardship.

Hopewell said Kalamazoo County will also have a say in what happens to the fountain, because it owns Bronson Park. The park is leased to the city of Kalamazoo.

One resident suggested that the city provide sledgehammers to residents, who would help destroy the statue during Indigenous Peoples Day next year.