San Francisco Italian American groups launched a referendum campaign Thursday to reclaim the former Columbus Day as “Italian American Heritage Day” following a Board of Supervisors decision last month to rename it as Indigenous Peoples Day.

The board voted 10-1 in January in favor of the name change. The national holiday was named in honor of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who is credited with discovering the Americas but also with contributing to Native American genocide. On Thursday, members of the Coalition of Italian American Organizations (CIAO), which represents some 20 groups, gathered in Washington Square Park in North Beach to announce the launch of a signature campaign that aims to place a renaming measure on the November ballot.