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'Indigenous People's Day' Highlights What Columbus Really Did When He Came To The 'New World

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Lovella Black Bear, left, holds a sign calling for the abolishment of Columbus Day during a 2015 demonstration for Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson/AP)
Lovella Black Bear, left, holds a sign calling for the abolishment of Columbus Day during a 2015 demonstration for Indigenous Peoples' Day in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

It's become a new kind of tradition.

Over the last few years, the second Monday of October has become the day to argue over whether to celebrate "Columbus Day" or to follow cities like Somerville and Cambridge that have renamed it "Indigenous People's Day."

The holiday can also serve as an occasion to better understand the complex world that Christopher Columbus stumbled upon in 1492 and the sometimes serendipitous, sometimes devastating chain of events that followed this clash of civilizations.

Guest

Charles C. Mann, author and journalist. He tweets @CharlesCMann.

This segment aired on October 8, 2018.

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