Another US state ditches Columbus Day holiday

Maine has become the latest state in the United States to replace Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples' Day" to honor the country's original inhabitants - Native Americans - and not the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus who has been given credit for discovering America in 1492.

Governor Janet T. Mills of Maine signed the bill into law on April 26 after receiving bipartisan support.

She said in a statement: "Today, we take another step in healing the divisions of the past, in fostering inclusiveness, in telling a fuller, deeper history, and in bringing the state and Maine's tribal communities together to build a future shaped by mutual trust and respect."