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The Ypsilanti City Hall

(Tom Perkins | For The Ann Arbor News)

YPSILANTI, MI - Columbus Day is now Indigenous Peoples Day in Ypsilanti.

At its June 21 meeting, the Ypsilanti City Council approved a resolution to recognize the holiday as such.

However, the city doesn't have the authority to legally rename a federal holiday. Instead it's a symbolic move that's an effort to provide an opportunity for local residents "to reflect upon the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people," Mayor Amanda Edmonds wrote in the resolution.

"The city of Ypsilanti recognizes that dislocation, disease, war, disenfranchisement, and other atrocities devastated these communities at various times, causing most indigenous peoples to be expelled from their homes in this area by the 1830s," Edmonds said. "Today's current quality of life for indigenous peoples across the country, and here locally, are of great concern."

The resolution notes that the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potowatomi and Wyandot tribes lived in the area for hundreds of years before the city was founded.

"Our geography, and that of all other municipalities, were populated by cultures that were decimated, removed, stolen from, etc, ... and I got quite a bit of positive, supportive input on this," Edmonds said. "There is a strong Native American community in southeast Michigan and, in general, what we've heard is strong support from the community."

She added that there is an active Native American group at Eastern Michigan University that supports the city renaming the holiday.

Edmonds first brought forth a resolution in October, but it was sent to the Human Relation Commission for tweaks. In the meantime, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County changed the name of the federal holiday in their jurisdictions. Columbus Day also is recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day in Traverse City and Alpena in Michigan. Nationally, Seattle, Minneapolis, Berkeley, California, and other recognize it as such.

Columbus Day is a federal legal holiday on the second Monday of October. The city's employees do not take Columbus Day off work, nor will they take Indigenous Peoples Day off.