A little over a year ago, the New Paltz School District Board of Education passed a resolution which renamed the controversial holiday, Columbus Day, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Now, the Town of New Paltz is following in their footsteps. During a January Town Board meeting, the idea of renaming Columbus Day as Lenape Day was initially tabled, but recently passed unanimously. 

The Esopus Tribe, also referred to as the Esopus Munsee Tribe, after the language Munsee which they spoke, is a tribe of the greater Tribe of Lenape. They are native to Upstate New York, particularly in Ulster and Sullivan counties, including New Paltz.