Wicked Local
For years, the celebration of Columbus Day went on without protest in Wellesley, which has a substantial population of people of Italian-American descent. But more recently, there has been a hard-fought battle to replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day.
The March 2 ballot contains a referendum on the issue.
"The referendum results are to inform the Select Board," said Town Clerk K.C. Kato. "However, the information is not binding."
The campaign for ballot question 1 has been organized by the Committee for Indigenous Peoples Day Wellesley, which is separate from the World of Wellesley. IPD Wellesley describes itself as a grassroots organization formed by a group of Wellesley residents who are in favor of honoring Indigenous Peoples Day. It says it has no affiliations with or support from organizations outside Wellesley, but does have endorsements from several local organizations, such as Sustainable Wellesley and Young Ethnic Scholars,