Schools and government buildings are closed in many states today to mark Christopher Columbus’ explorations. But this national holiday isn’t embraced by everyone. For Chicago Public Radio, Jessy Bradish reports.

**

Columbus Day is one of only ten federal holidays. But some Native American groups say the designation warps the facts. Janice Klein is director of the Chicago-area Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

KLEIN: It is impossible to talk about Columbus without the association with the resulting decimation of Native American people and culture.

But some Italian American groups say for them, Columbus Day is about celebrating the Italian immigrant experience, not the destruction of native cultures.

South Dakota, which has a large Native-American population, changed the name of the federal holiday from Columbus Day to Native Americans’ Day.

So far, no other states have followed suit.

For Chicago Public Radio, I’m Jessy Bradish.