On Monday, the Brunswick Town Council voted 8-1 in favor of adopting “A Resolution to Acknowledge Maine’s Indigenous Cultures.” In the Town of Brunswick, the second Monday of October will be recognized as both Columbus Day and, as of result of the vote, Indigenous People’s Day.

Residents filled Brunswick’s Town Hall to comment on and witness this decision. Following the public hearing, the first order of business was to address whether to adopt the resolution or not. Before the vote, attendees were given the opportunity to speak their mind about the resolution. Many attendees, including a local high school student, chose to stand up and speak.

In her public statement, Penobscot Nation tribal ambassador Maulian Dana Smith, vocalized her support for the resolution, saying that Columbus Day was a “painful reminder that we were supposed to be exterminated.”

While most speakers chose to vocalize their support for the resolution, a few voiced their reservations about it.

Smith was among a majority of speakers who chose to vocalize their support for the resolution while few voiced their reservations about it. In her public statement, Jennifer Johnson, a Brunswick resident, said, “[I]t appears to me that everybody across the United States, Maine included, wants to rewrite whatever they want.”

Ultimately, the resolution passed with an 8-1 vote in favor. Similar resolutions have been passed from Berkeley, California to Portland, Maine.