LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 08: A student of Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America school for indigenous students holds incense during an event celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day in the Hollywood area on October 8, 2017 of Los Angeles, Californiaa. The event is a celebration of the Los Angeles County's decision to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. Both the city and the county of Los Angeles have approved the replacement on each second Monday in October, starting no later than 2019. October 12 will be Italian-American Heritage Day. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell is planning two celebrations today to recognize the recent vote by the City Council to replace Columbus Day with a holiday honoring Native Americans.
The council voted in August to make the switch and celebrate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, but it has until 2019 to officially create the new holiday while it drafts and approves a new ordinance.
O'Farrell, who is wasting no time celebrating the move, will be recognizing the City Council's vote with students at the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts and at an event at USC's Fowler Museum.
The event in Los Feliz is not open to the public. The event at USC is open to the public and scheduled to begin at 5 p.m where O'Farrell plans to present official certificates of appreciation to members of the L.A. City- County Native American Commission.
O'Farrell, who is a member of the Wyandotte Native American Tribe, led the drive on the City Council to replace Columbus Day and successfully argued that the explorer's connection to brutality and slavery makes him unworthy of celebration.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to eliminate all references to Columbus Day as a county holiday, designating Oct. 12 as Italian American Heritage Day and creating a new Indigenous Peoples Day.
Indigenous Peoples Day will fall on the second Monday of October in Los Angeles County, beginning no later than 2019.