In a stealth vote in the final moments of Representative Town Meeting today, fairly new RTM member Dylan Mackinnon of District Two proposed the following non-binding resolution:
“I move that the town change, in reference to the second Monday in October, as Indigenous People’s Day in place of Columbus Day.”
K. Daims attempted an amendment to have the Selectboard bring this proposal to a town-wide resolution, but the amendment was defeated 28 to 43. The proposal passed overwhelmingly, though the exact vote was obscured by a vast WHOOSH! of indigenous spirits flooding the room with silent whoops and hollars.
In an interview after the vote, Mackinnon listed a number of other towns and municipalities that have passed this or similar resolutions:
- Durango, CO
- Minneapolis, MN
- Belfast, ME
- Seattle, WA
- Berkeley, Sepastopol and Santa Cruz, CA
- States of Alaska, Oregon, South Dakota, Hawaii
Mackinnon’s family tells stories of a legendary ancestor who was Quinnipiac/Wangunk from
the estuary of the Connecticut River, and the European portion of his family has lived on a
homestead there for 12 generations. He is a recent resident of Brattleboro with his wife and son, having moved up-watershed in 2014. A naturalist and arborist by profession, Mackinnon has worked with legendary tracker Tom Brown, Jr., currently chairs the Brattleboro Tree Advisory Committee and propagates pawpaws in his spare time.
Nicely done
For a moment there, we almost adopted Indigent People’s Day, but the error was caught in time.
This was a very pleasing end to the day. I’m both surprised and happy that it got approved. It is advisory, not binding, but it paves the way to making it a permanent day.
One thing I like is that we would have more to celebrate on the holiday. We have lots of local relation to indigenous people, whereas we have very few local ties to Columbus that I’m aware of. We could make it a day about local history, and local sites.
everyone comes from somewhere
Not to mention that Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo in Italian) was indigenous to Genoa, Italy.
Indigenous: originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
I think this vote and discussion is a step in the right direction. The answer to bad history is more history.
Andy
Kchi wliwni Dylan!
I offer my great thanks to Dylan Mackinnon – amidst my pleasant surprise! – for proposing this successful resolution to recognize and honor the original people of Wantastegok, the Sokwakiak. I hope this begins the restoration of an integral part of this land: one that is not ancient history, but a continuous reality which includes all of us. As someone has said, this is not simply re-writing history, it is re-righting history. The true stories are even more intriguing than the myths we have been taught, and their messages of respect and reciprocity more relevant than ever. The Abenaki are still here, as is the circle of all of our relations, and Brattleboro has been missing the larger part of its cultural heritage. Thank you to the RTM members for the adoption of Dylan’s resolution.
Beautiful response
I completely agree and also hope that although this was a nonbinding resolution that the town moves forward and October 2016 ushers in a new era of authentic, respectful celebration.
By ascribing 'discovery’ to someone who was never here
I agree with re-righting history to restore “an integral part of this land.” But not in the context of: “Brattleboro has been missing the larger part of its cultural heritage.”
The larger part of Brattleboro’s cultural heritage is European. The culture of original people of Wantastegok, the Sokwakiak is their own indigenous culture, not the majority of the current Brattleboro population. All the more so, however, why we shouldn’t lose sight of or diminish the “original” people who preceded the European colonization by ascribing ‘discovery’ to someone who was never here.
Circles and boxes
Vidda, your observation is accurate. Heritage and relationship are probably seen by most Brattleborians – European, in large part – through that exclusive lens, with a strong human-centric and ideological emphasis on division and linearity. It is not place-based, and there is little connection felt to the balance of the [natural] world. It is the paradigm which gave rise to, and continues to enable, the founding myth of our own culture, from the USA to Vermont to Brattleboro itself. History has been written to exclude those that “don’t belong”, and to rationalize the dominant culture. It is always a matter of perception… perhaps we are opening our eyes a little wider. The world will be a better place.