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Photo: Associated Press
Brainerd is the latest Minnesota community to consider giving Columbus Day a name change.
The city council will take up a proposal to change the federal holiday's name to Native People's Day at its upcoming mid-September meeting.
Red Wing and Minneapolis have already dropped the controversial explorer's name, and in a memo to the council, Alderman Chip Borkenhagen suggested Brainerd make its own "bold move."
Brainerd and neighboring tribes collaborated on a recent history week event, he wrote, and it represented the "beginning of a huge healing process for us all." It seemed like an "appropriate time" to rename a day many American Indians find hurtful.
The council took up the proposal Tuesday, but tabled until their Sept. 15 meeting after some debate.
In April, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to refer to Columbus Day as "Indigenous People's Day" in official correspondence. In May, the Red Wing City Council voted to rename the holiday Chief Red Wing Day.
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