Ambiguous Columbus Day Celebration

On Monday, October 12, Columbus Day is celebrated in the USA in memory of the arrival of the navigator to the shores of America.

According to John Viola, President of the National Italian-American Foundation, this holiday has various aspects.

“For us, this is an opportunity to mark our contribution to this country, to glorify the history of our ancestors,” he emphasizes. “And it seems to me that for the rest of those living in this country, Columbus Day provides an opportunity to glorify our nation of immigrants.”

For some, Columbus is a great discoverer. But others relate to his legacy differently.

Joe Jenetin-Pilaw, a professor of history at George Mason University, recalls that the navigator enslaved many of the indigenous people in the territories he discovered.

“During the ten years since its first appearance in the Bahamas in 1492, that is, by 1502, the number of Taino people who lived there declined from about a million to five hundred,” he states.

Deputy Director of the National Congress of American Indians, Robert Holden claims that the story of Columbus is distorted.

“She’s always been dubious about the fate of indigenous tribes and our view of written sources that were compiled by non-indigenous authors and were intended for non-indigenous audiences,” Holden emphasizes.

David Silverman, a professor of history at George Washington University, is convinced: the story of Columbus must be told in its entirety.

“It is wrong to focus on one aspect of the past and neglect others,” the historian notes. “It is necessary to unite them so that he [Columbus] becomes a three-dimensional figure.”

Some in the United States prefer to celebrate not Columbus Day, but Indigenous Day.

According to Dzhenetina-Pilava, the official name of the holiday needs to be changed.

“I am convinced that we must question the existence of a federal holiday in honor of Christopher Columbus. As for what can be replaced with it, I support the establishment of the Day of Indigenous People, ”the researcher stresses.

John Viola does not share this view. He believes that Native Americans should find another day dedicated to their culture.

“I think that for the indigenous population this is a good opportunity to find a day when they can unite around their problems, an opportunity to say: wait, let's talk about what it means for us,” said George Mason University professor.