A proposal to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day won final approval Friday in the state Legislature following a lengthy and sometimes emotional debate. The Senate voted 22-15 to approve the bill pushed by Native American activists.

Numerous cities nationwide, including Albuquerque, have moved to shift the October holiday's focus from honoring Christopher Columbus by passing resolutions and measures that instead called for celebrating indigenous cultures. Sen. Benny Shendo, Jr., a Democrat from Pueblo, said the day was needed to counter lessons taught in schools that claim Columbus "discovered" the Americas despite indigenous people already living there for centuries.