A Montana lawmaker is proposing that the Legislature replace Columbus Day with a named celebration of Native Americans. State Rep. Bridget Smith, D-Wolf Point, submitted a bill request last week. Smith said Thursday that the celebration of Christopher Columbus is wrong. Columbus and "his pack" committed atrocities on the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and their legacy is that of cruelty and slavery, Smith said.
"We must end the repugnant celebration of Columbus Day," she said. "Honoring Columbus, a mass murderer, affronts the dignity of all Montanans and Americans."
