Every year, the second Monday of October rolls around and with it comes the conversation about Columbus day. Some parts of the country choose not to observe the holiday but rather celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.

But today isn’t the second Monday of October, so we don’t have to worry about the politics of Christopher Columbus and whether or not the United States should celebrate a holiday in memory of his discovery.

Today is October 9th, better known as Leif Erikson day.

Leif Erikson was the first European to “discover” North America, around 500 years before Columbus was even born. A Nordic explorer and born in Iceland, Leif Erikson was destined to make big discoveries. His father Erik the Red was the first European to discover and settle Greenland and preceded Leif as Chieftain of Greenland.

Leif Erikson Day is a great day to celebrate both the heritage of the Norse people as well as the first known discovery of the new world by a European.

His discovery is largely considered apolitical as the Norse explorers created a small number of settlements in what is now Newfoundland, Canada, but none of them lasted for any significant amount of time. 

Rather, Leif Erikson is remembered for his characteristics as a courageous leader and a champion of the Nordic people. Statues and other representations of Leif Erikson can be found in parts of the United States and Canada that were settled by Nordic people.

He was an admirable leader, put perhaps the most admirable aspect of Leif Erikson and his discovery of the new world was how modest he was about it. Perhaps unknowingly, Leif Erikson discovered the knowledge of a new continent and brought that knowledge back to Europe where it was disseminated, but not boasted.

Perhaps his explorations were seen as trivial, but it is believed that knowledge of his travels made its way into mainstream Europe where explorers many generations younger would someday learn of it. Christopher Columbus himself could have known of the great Nordic leader who discovered “America” before setting off on his own journey.

And it’s for that quiet, yet passionate discovery of the new world that we celebrate Leif Erikson Day. Perhaps a forgotten bit of history, he represents the balance of humility and power that we could all learn to embody.