Dumfries may likely be the first municipality in Virginia to eliminate Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The Dumfries Town Council also will no longer observe the state’s Lee-Jackson Day holiday and will instead give its staff the day off on Election Day. The Dumfries Town Council made the decisions during its Feb. 19 meeting.

“I think it’s important that we tell history in an honest way that is a true representation of what actually happened,” said Councilwoman Selonia Miles, who introduced a resolution to establish Indigenous Peoples’ Day. “I am proposing we show honor to the founders of this nation, who they truly were, the indigenous people, the true first nations,” she said.