In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…and “discovered” America.
The history books I studied in school portrayed a great man.
Those who knew him told a different story.
His first landing was on an island in what is now called the Bahamas, populated by a people history calls the Arawaks
In his own log He wrote:
They … brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things,
which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bills. They willingly
traded everything they owned… . They were well-built, with good bodies and
handsome features…. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed
them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.
They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane… . They would make fine
servants…. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do
whatever we want.
Read that last sentence again – it shows how this “great man” thought.
The chief source of information about what happened on the islands after Columbus
came is Bartolomeo de las Casas, a Spanish priest who participated in the
conquest of Cuba. When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508, Las Casas says,
“there were 60,000 people living on this island, including the Indians; so
that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war,
slavery, and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this? I myself
writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it….”
For a more contemporary version of the story, refer to “A People’s History of the United States” by
Howard Zinn.
Zinn relates:
Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the
Indian settlements in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las
Casas-even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to
begin with, as he says, or less than a million, as some historians have
calculated, or 8 million as others now believe?)-is conquest, slavery, death.
When we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all
starts with heroic adventure – there is no bloodshed – and Columbus Day is a
celebration
Zinn’s “Magnum Opus” is well-worth reading by anybody.
And the good news is that it’s available in its entirety here on the web (for free!): http://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html
You might find Zinn’s approach to history a bit unconventional. It’s history from the viewpoint of the underdog.
Here’s how he explains his stance:
Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in
history, I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the
viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the
slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as seen by
the New York Irish, of the Mexican war as seen by the deserting soldiers of
Scott’s army, of the rise of industrialism as seen by the young women in the
Lowell textile mills, of the Spanish-American war as seen by the Cubans, the
conquest of the Philippines as seen by black soldiers on Luzon, the Gilded Age
as seen by southern farmers, the First World War as seen by socialists, the
Second World War as seen by pacifists, the New Deal as seen by blacks in
Harlem, the postwar American empire as seen by peons in Latin America. And so
on, to the limited extent that any one person, however he or she strains, can
“see” history from the standpoint of others.
And there’s more…
‘Taking Stand Against Racism and Discrimination,’ Seattle Adopts Indigenous Peoples Day The second Monday in October will no longer be celebrated as Columbus Day in the city (by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Common Dreams October 07, 2014)
The Seattle City Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution to celebrate
the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.While the day is marked federally as Columbus Day, the resolution states the newly
recognized day will be an opportunity for the city “to celebrate the
thriving cultures and values of the Indigenous Peoples of our
region.” “The City of Seattle strongly encourages Seattle Public Schools to include the teaching of
indigenous people’s history,” the text also notes.Councilmember Kshama Sawant, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said at the Council
meeting that it “is about more than just a name change. It is about educating
ourselves and our children, about taking a stand against racism and
discrimination.”“When Columbus arrived on this continent, there were an estimated 50 – 100 million
indigenous people already living in what came to be known as the ‘New World.’
He did not embark on a simple voyage of exploration. It was always intended as
a voyage of conquest and, ultimately, colonization.”Seattle “should not honor a man who played such a pivotal role in the worst
genocide humankind has ever known,” the socialist said.In response to objections to those who felt the change would be an affront to
Italian-Americans, Sawant said that the true Italian-Americans to be celebrated
are those who engaged in struggles for social justice.
Arawak notes from meeting Columbus
“Idiots. They’d take anything we brought them. We unloaded old parrots, used balls of cotton, unused spears and many other things we no longer needed. They willingly took everything.. . They were pale, with sickly bodies and grotesque features…. They carry sharp objects with them. They would make poor servants…. With fifty men we could subjugate them all but it would be hard to make them do whatever we want. It would be better if they just got back on their boat and left.”
A VT Indigenous Peoples Day?
According to the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs at http://vcnaa.vermont.gov/ we have four native tribes here, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation and Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi. I didn’t find any reference to a VT state or local day or holiday for Indigenous Peoples Day, though. One would certainly be more appropriate than Columbus Day.
#postyourunpopularopinion
I am coming around to the position that the switcheroo of this holiday, from celebrating the oppressed rather than the oppressor, is the wrong way to go. Absolutely, the indigenous population deserves all the respect and recognition that can be granted. But this is not done by a fleeting (and commercialized) calendar marker.
My point being, the longer the holiday bears the name of Columbus, the more likely we’re going to be aware of the atrocities and genocides which have been perpetuated, and that will never be undone. And possibly, though unlikely, maybe this reminder of shame might make us less apt to do so again in the future.
Justification
maybe this reminder of shame might make us less apt to do so again in the future.
I doubt it. The American mistreatment of it’s indigenous population has been regularly used by Israel to justify its own mistreatment of indigines.
Check this out.
Growing Number of Nations Distancing Themselves From Israel’s ‘Explicitly Criminal Actions’ : Noam Chomsky
‘Every drop of oil that is extracted from the ground is another blow in the coffin of the human species,’ Chomsky said
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer October 15, 2014 Common Dreams
Noam Chomsky said Tuesday that recent votes in Europe to recognize Palestinian statehood show growing actions by populations to distance themselves from Israel’s “criminal actions.” The noted noted linguist, author, and critic of U.S. empire added that continued fossil fuel extraction is destroying a future that would allow decent human existence.
Chomsky made the comments to press at the United Nations headquarters ahead of a lecture he was giving on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
For Palestinians, the only “moral choice is to resist occupation,” he said, and for Palestinian leadership, “a primary focus” should be “to address the American population.” That direction is needed, he said, for the American public to hope to bring about change to the U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine.
“I think there will be no significant progress in this conflict until pressure from the American population induces the government to take a different stance. Every third world nationalist movement—Vietnamese, Nicaraguan, Timorese, whatever it was—have all understood the significance of developing solidarity and support among the American population to the extent that they can influence modification of policy. And I think that’s a crucial direction the Palestinian efforts should be directed to, quite apart from actions in the international arena,” he said.
Adding pressure, Chomsky said, to the need for a change in the status quo are Sweden’s announcement earlier this month that it officially recognized the state of Palestine—the first EU country to do so—and a symbolic vote this week by UK lawmakers to recognize Palestine.
Though the UK vote was symbolic, “it does affect British policy,” he said. “It’s another indication of the way the populations in Europe and also in the United States to an extent […] want to distance themselves from the actions that Israel is taking, which are very explicitly criminal actions—there is no question about it.”
Noam Chomsky speaking Tuesday. (Image: Screengrab via UN WEB TV)”They want to distance themselves from those actions, both their criminality and their brutality,” he said. In every more democratic society, he added, “sooner or later attitudes of the population can—they may not but they can—influence the direction of policy if there is effort and engagement in that direction.”
Sweden’s and the UK’s actions are “a direction of the way things are going to go,” he said, noting that there are over 130 countries that recognize Palestine.
There will continue to be resistance from the Anglosphere—the UK, Canada, US, Australia—described by Chomsky as “settler colonial societies.” He asked rhetorically, “Have these societies come to terms with their extermination of the indigenous population?”
But these nations “can’t divorce themselves from the world,” he said, and added that more actions in the world, like those taken in Sweden and the UK, will add pressure on the U.S.
That the U.S. is again becoming a major exporter of oil will not ignite a shift in foreign policy, he said. However, he noted, this is a disaster for the world.
“We are really playing with fire. Every drop of oil that is extracted from the ground is another blow in the coffin of the human species.”
“We’re coming pretty close to a precipice where we’re going to destroy the conditions for decent existence, and unless most of that oil stays in the ground, where it has to be, the future for our grandchildren is not very bright. This is constantly neglected when you read the euphoria about the fracking and so on.” The price of gasoline going down, Chomsky added, is a “catastrophe, not a time for euphoria.”