![]() "I still don't think I've fully absorbed what that has meant," he said to NPR in 2021. The move shifts focus from Columbus Day, the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus, which shares the same date as Indigenous Peoples' Day this year.īiden first issued a proclamation recognizing the day in 2021.ĭylan Baca, a 19-year-old Arizonan who was instrumental in helping broker the first proclamation, was overwhelmed by the gravity of Biden's action. 10 as a day to honor Native Americans, their resilience and their contributions to American society throughout history, even as they faced assimilation, discrimination and genocide spanning generations. President Biden issued a proclamation on Friday to observe this Oct. president has officially recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day. But it baffles the mind to imagine a world where the harbinger of such an acroscity is remembered fondly.For only the second time, a U.S. Was he personally responsible for this genocide? No. And he should be remembered for the mass genocide that came as a result of European settlement of the New World. He should be remembered for laying claim to already inhabited lands. He should be remembered as the cruel and incompetent man he was who let his sailors rape and pillage the islands they landed on as they pleased. ![]() For all the reasons listed above, and for how he acted during his stay in the Americas, Christopher Columbus should not be remembered as a voyaging adventurer who discovered America. When looking at the list of “accomplishments” credited to Christopher Columbus, they are inconsequential to his blunders. This misnomer is the origin of our English slang word “Indian” when referring to a Native American. Even after being confronted with maps made on voyages that came after his, he was determined to make a fool of himself to his last breath. He could not conceive the possibility that he was wrong, and that there was, in fact, two whole continents between where he landed and India. On his deathbed, he insisted that the land he opened up to colonial exploitation, disease, rape, and murder was the Oriental Land of India. Christopher Columbus died believing that the island he landed on was off the coast of India. Not only was he an arrogant and incompetent captain, but he was also a foolishly stubborn one. He was convinced that the ocean separating the Old World and the Oriental couldn’t possibly be as large as the Atlantic Ocean actually is, and refused to heed the advice of other captains telling him to bring more supplies in case of an unexpectedly long journey. He was so sure of himself and his knowledge of the sea, he only brought half as many supplies as necessary. Not only did he lose the title of “discovery” to the Norsemen, he almost died doing it. That honor belongs to the Norsemen almost 1000 years before his famous voyage. Even ignoring the fact that the new continent he landed on had been inhabited for thousands of years, with indigenous societies surpassing European ones in size and population, he still wasn’t the first European to sail to North America. He is remembered as the man who “discovered America,” but historians have known for quite some time now that he did no such thing. ![]() Why? Why are we still celebrating this man and his life? What have his contributions to our society and our understanding been? Truth be told, Christopher Columbus was a nasty, racist, incompetent captain whose “achievements” amount to very little. 8, students read about and are taught Christopher Columbus’ “great achievements.” Every year, in the weeks surrounding Oct. “1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” I’m sure many of us remember hearing this rhyme in school, even if we weren’t taught it directly by our history teacher. Note: Travis Hameloth graduated with a degree in History Education from Millersville in Dec.
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