Instead of recalling and recounting those tawdry tales, let us instead cite and celebrate a most improbable outcome of this history: Indigenous survivance. Stories of Indigenous survival, resilience, and resistance remain in short supply in mainstream America, but not because they do not exist; rather, they have been eclipsed through a nationalist project of Indigenous erasure. The time of reckoning is at hand. Let us demonstrate together our collective solidarity with Indigenous peoples by abandoning public commemoration of Columbus in exchange for celebrating Indigenous survivance.
It is only contributing to the continued erasure of Native peoples. There should be no reason to celebrate a man who only brought disease, genocide, and various assault to Native communities. Quite frankly, he discovered nothing, so what is there to celebrate? Not only does this holiday allow the country to educate itself on the loaded history surrounding the holiday, it also celebrates the perseverance and power that Native communities continue to have in the world.
Not only is it a celebration of our people, it is also a celebration of our culture, our food, and our art. That shift would require people to think about the fact that this country was founded on taking over territory that belonged to the Indigenous peoples who are still here and whose ancestors lived here for thousands of years and had their own societies, their own culture, and their own political institutions. We also have to respect the fact that modern-day Indian tribes in the United States are governments; they have sovereignty; they have land; and we still have the right to independence within the U.
I tell my students that this is a very uncomfortable part of U. The Black Lives Matter movement is a great analog because some people want to ignore the fact that police act in ways that are racially discriminatory.
In the same way, the majority in the United States prefer not to think about the fact that most of this country was forcibly taken away from the Indigenous populations. The time for a reckoning with the unjust treatment of Native American people is overdue.
Co-president of Natives at Harvard College. A lot of changes that are happening now we owe to Black Lives Matter protesters. It has really forced a lot of people in power and a lot of regular American citizens to reckon with the fact that our country has very racist origins and structures in place today. Later that October, Columbus sighted Cuba and believed it was mainland China; in December the expedition found Hispaniola, which he thought might be Japan.
The explorer crossed the Atlantic several more times before his death in In , President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal organization.
Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday of October. While Columbus Day is a federal government holiday meaning all federal offices are closed, not all states grant it as a day off from work. Controversy over Columbus Day dates back to the 19th century, when anti-immigrant groups in the United States rejected the holiday because of its association with Catholicism. In recent decades, Native Americans and other groups have protested the celebration of an event that resulted in the colonization of the Americas, the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade and the deaths of millions from murder and disease.
European settlers brought a host of infectious diseases, including smallpox and influenza that decimated indigenous populations. Warfare between Native Americans and European colonists claimed many lives as well. The image of Christopher Columbus as an intrepid hero has also been called into question. Upon arriving in the Bahamas, the explorer and his men forced the native peoples they found there into slavery. Later, while serving as the governor of Hispaniola, he allegedly imposed barbaric forms of punishment, including torture.
Several U. Columbus Day was originally observed every October 12, but was changed to the second Monday in October beginning in Local groups host parades and street fairs featuring colorful costumes, music and Italian food. In places that use the day to honor indigenous peoples, activities include pow-wows, traditional dance events and lessons about Native American culture. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. With Columbus Day still being recognized as a national holiday, many who know the truth about Christopher Columbus question why we celebrate it. Initially, people observed Columbus Day on October 12th of each year.
Following , people celebrated Columbus Day every second Monday of October. As the infamous rhyme states, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in In October of that year, Columbus would end his voyage in what he thought was Asia, only to realize later that he had found a new continent.
However, what many do not understand, is the dark underbelly of these discoveries. Desperate to find more gold, Columbus schemed and plotted ways to expand his riches. After making it back to Spain, Columbus was a known name and hero. The public viewed him as a courageous explorer that sailed through the unknown seas and made incredible discoveries.
Columbus also brought back some of the things he acquired while in the Americas, such as spices, cotton, tobacco, gold and even indigenous Americans he kidnapped.
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