There were two very different events in downtown Syracuse Monday, as central New Yorkers observed both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Monday morning, music echoed through Columbus Circle as more than 100 people gathered to celebrate the local Italian American community.
Local dignitaries placed a wreath at the foot of the Christopher Columbus monument, but many people say the day goes beyond the controversial historical figure.
"This holiday, this feast day, whatever you want to call it, is more than just one man or what that one man did. For this, it's all about our heritage," said Dominick DeMichele, whose parents came to the United States from Italy.
The future of the monument is still in question after a judge ruled in March that the city of Syracuse cannot remove the statue as officials planned.
Mayor Ben Walsh has said he plans to appeal the ruling. But Nick Pirro, Vice President of the Columbus Monument Corporation, said he’d like to move forward.
"We've offered to raise money to help create a small park here next to it, the Heritage Park,” said Pirro. “And we think it would be in everybody's best interest."
Groups opposing the monument marked the holiday in a different way this year, skipping protests at the wreath laying and holding an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration at the Everson Museum.
Danielle Smith is from the Onondaga Nation Hawk clan and has worked to get the Columbus Monument taken down for years.
“I'm just tired,” said Smith. “I wish that people would see how this statue affects Indigenous people and specifically the children."
The Indigenous Peoples’ celebration featured speakers and honored Haudenosaunee singing and dancing. Hilary-Anne Coppola is one of the organizers and a member of WISH CNY, which stands for Women of Italian and Syracuse Heritage. She said she hopes the event will help raise awareness about colonialism.
"We are not causing divisiveness by celebrating Indigenous peoples and native nations,” said Coppola. “We're coming together in joy and in mutual beliefs about what it means to build community in a just society."
