The US has celebrated Columbus’ discovery of America on the second Monday of October since 1971. The leaders of the government proclaimed this day as a symbol of freedom and liberty. Teachers taught young students that Columbus should be remembered as a hero for America, and nothing less. These ideas began to change in 1977 when the first declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day occurred, led by the first Native American delegates at a UN conference.
Legislation from that UN conference showed that “discrimination, genocide, and ethnocide” occured during Columbus’ explorations. Recent legislation in District of Columbia has shown that the natives were “enslaved, colonized, mutilated, and massacred.” International and federal justice systems have indicted the actions of Columbus, but what has America been doing in response?
In America, the movement toward change has been slow. 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage in 1492, marked the first observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Berkeley, California. Today, Alabama, Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina. Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of or in addition to Columbus Day.
Massachusetts’ absence from this list reveals a blanket ignorance hanging over a state that prides itself on liberalism. Cambridge, a neighboring city to Belmont, replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2016. The Student Activist Club of Belmont High School, led by Chloe Park and Alex Fick, is campaigning to replace the recognition of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Belmont. This change, they explain, would “support the true founders of our land” and “live up to [Belmont’s] promise of progressiveness and inclusiveness.” At the end of this article, you can sign the petition to voice your support for Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Belmont.
Two key points about Columbus that are often glossed over:
-Columbus was not the first man to discover America.
The vikings, led by Leif Erikson, are attributed with being the first people to set foot on North America. There still lies a controversy around who really was the first person to discover America, but Columbus certainly was not the first.
-Columbus’ brutal treatment of the natives was unjustified.
A man who traveled with Columbus named Bartolome de Las Casas abandoned him due to the amount of treachery he showed toward the Native Americans and the violence he inflicted upon them. Las Casas believed the reason why Columbus “destroyed such an infinite [number] of souls” was to “get gold.” Many other explorers of his time did not exhibit such violence for greed. Columbus’ actions were unprecedented and homicidal.
On a global perspective, there lies even more problems. No other country in the Americas salutes or honors the name Christopher Columbus, except the United States of America. Other countries have different names for the holiday on the second Monday of October. “Dia de la Raza/Hispanidad” - Day of the Race [Hispanic People] - is celebrated in Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. “Dia de la Resistencia Indígena” - Day of Indigenous Resistance - is celebrated in Venezuela. Each of these holidays represents an acceptance of diversity and a reclaiming of the native roots of their country, quite different values than those of Columbus Day and another reason to seek a replacement in Belmont.
6.79 million Native Americans live in this country today and to not give them the respect of disowning a man whose only aims in coming to America were to slaughter and to find gold creates a division between Americans. If Belmont successfully replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, this can send the message to other cities in Massachusetts to follow these actions of change. Maybe one day as a nation we can stand in solidarity with Native Americans, and put aside a man who only lies in a past that should be recognized as malicious and corrupt.
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