Most in new poll support celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day

A majority of Americans support celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with the highest approval being among Americans aged 30 and under, a new YouGov survey found.

The survey, conducted from Oct. 4 to 6, revealed that 54 percent of adults in the U.S. strongly or somewhat approve of celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, compared to the 5 percent who strongly or somewhat disapprove. Thirty-one percent neither approved nor disapproved of celebrating it, the poll showed.

Data showed the approval was highest among adults under 30 years old, at 63 percent, and lowest among those aged 65 and older, at 43 percent.

Responses also showed that 72 percent of Democrats approve of celebrating the day, compared to 50 percent of independents and 40 percent of Republicans.

The poll also found that 63 percent of Americans believe Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or a similar type of day, should be recognized by the federal government.

A majority of respondents, 55 percent, said that they were not very familiar with or had never heard of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the survey found.

The vast majority, 82 percent, of Americans view the day with some level of importance to U.S. history, the poll revealed.

The survey also asked respondents about how familiar they were with Christopher Columbus. The vast majority, 89 percent, said they were very or somewhat familiar with him. Eighty-six percent said they were very or somewhat familiar with Columbus Day.

The poll revealed that 52 percent of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of Columbus, compared to 32 percent who said they have a somewhat or very unfavorable view.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said they approve of celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day than Columbus Day, which sat at 43 percent. More Americans also said they believed there should be a holiday recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day than one recognizing Christopher Columbus, 63 percent to 49 percent, the poll showed.

The poll was conducted among 1,137 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 3.8 percent.