For many in Utah and across the United States, growing up in the public school system meant learning about and celebrating the legacy of Christopher Columbus. He was introduced simply as the man to discover America, and that’s why we celebrated him. However, there have been some significant problems with this narrative that necessitate reinvestigation of the holiday this month.

One of the largest and most important reasons why Columbus Day has come under scrutiny is the way he interacted with the Native population he encountered. Slavery, murder, assault and other atrocities committed by Columbus and his followers have made many ask why he is a figure worthy of celebration. For many, the answer has been to rename the day Indigenous People’s Day, which is certainly a huge step in the right direction. For others, the claim that Columbus was still the one to discover the Americas merits, in their view, celebration. 

There are some problems with this claim, however. Firstly, the existence of a native population confirms that Columbus did not, in fact, discover this land. There were already people living here, and therefore, they, their ancestors, or someone entirely different discovered it. Furthermore, if the claim is that he was the first person of European descent to discover the Americas, there is another issue.

Leifur Eiriksson, more commonly known as Leif Erickson, was likely born in Iceland in the 970s CE. A well-known figure in Norse and Viking history, Leifur carved out his niche as an explorer and was recorded in the “Saga of Erik the Red” and the “Saga of the Greenlanders” to have landed on and settled in the American Continent. If true, this account would credit Eiriksson as the first person of European descent to have set foot on the American continent, but, such sagas are always hard to verify.

The Norse Sagas have a habit of incorporating mythological elements into history, such as dragons, trolls or other creatures. However, in the 1960s, excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland unearthed an amazing find. An entire Norse settlement was found, including buildings, artifacts, and evidence of a bustling civilization, thereby confirming that Eiriksson, or others like him, did in fact reach the American continent sometime between 990 and 1050 CE. This puts their landfall at least 442 years before Columbus, and likely even longer. 

It may well be time, given that Columbus was neither the first European here, nor was he an upstanding man, to retire Columbus Day as an American Holiday, and instead, recognize Leifur for his achievements, celebrating, in tandem, Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring the people that really were here first, both indigenous, and from across the sea.