Columbus Day came and went Monday in Hartford and for now Christopher Columbus still has his holiday. Like many municipalities and states around the country, Hartford honors Columbus by commemorating his arrival in the New World in 1492. Like a few communities around the country, Hartford is considering using the day to honor indigenous peoples rather than the European who “discovered” them and their homeland.

The Washington Post says at least 26 cities recognized Native Americans rather than Columbus this year. Berkeley, Calif., was the first city to make the switch; South Dakota the first state. Closer to home, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin recently signed a proclamation making the second Monday of October Indigenous People’s Day.

We are surprised that Hartford is in the vanguard in this discussion — it’s no Berkeley — but this is an issue that many communities will eventually have to face. Selectman Simon Dennis proposed changing the holiday because Columbus was, in his view, “discriminatory, brutal in ways that have represented a U.S. persecution of the indigenous people that lived here. This is a dark mark on our historical legacy that we have not fully come to terms with as a country.”

Indeed, the story of Columbus’ dealings in the Americas is not the rosy story that schoolbooks once made it out to be. Critics say the explorer and his men mutilated hundreds or thousands of members of the Taino tribe, raped young girls, initiated the American slave trade and committed acts that today would be considered crimes against humanity.

But in 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the first Columbus Day at the urging of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization that included many Italian-Americans, the dark side of colonization was little recognized. And Italian-Americans, who faced fierce bias in the early part of the 20th century, much like immigrants today, saw it as a point of pride to have one of their own honored.

The Hartford Selectboard has directed Town Manager Leo Pullar to look into the issue and report back. He will find a wide range of views. Staff reporter Matt Hongoltz-Hetling talked to people in town who don’t want to change a holiday they’ve long enjoyed, and see the movement as political correctness run amok. Some admit they don’t know much about the accusations against the explorer.

But others looked for middle ground where both the bravery of Columbus and the harm that came to native populations would be recognized. “I think it would be good to honestly portray the holiday and not just glorify him’’ said Christopher Vincent, of Chester, Vt. “Give a fair representation.”

In the near future, an honest portrayal may be the best that communities such as Hartford can achieve. On the one hand we have Columbus, a hero to many. On the other hand, we have the story of indigenous peoples, which includes depredations that sometimes rose to the level of genocide.

It strikes us that this is a conversation that’s going to continue for some years. It takes time to come to grips with a history that was not fashioned truthfully — and even more time if people resist the truth. We’re not sure how Columbus will be seen when the conversation is done, but we expect that the story of indigenous peoples will become only more prominent.

And while perhaps schools should not be celebrating Columbus as a flawless hero, it would do no good to erase him from our consciousness, either. Indeed, acknowledging the darker parts of our history, in the appropriate context, is vital in the hopes that one day we might stop repeating it.