What Columbus was guilty of: why the holiday in honor of the discoverer of America was replaced with Indigenous Peoples' Day

On October 9, Columbus Day is celebrated in the United States. But more states and cities are celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day instead, reports USAToday.

Photo: IStock

“On Indigenous Peoples' Day, we honor the sovereignty, resilience and tremendous contributions that Native Americans have made to the world. And we will uphold treaty obligations to tribal nations, strengthening our ties among nations,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day 2022 year.

Columbus Day is still a federal holiday. Pew research shows that the paid holiday is still observed exclusively as Columbus Day in 16 states.

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According to Reynaldo Morales, an assistant professor at Northwestern University, continuing to honor Christopher Columbus implies that we are ignoring the well-documented history of his atrocities. Morales is a descendant of the Quechua people of Peru and is an expert on Amerindian and indigenous issues, as well as covering environmental issues facing indigenous communities around the world.

“We know that indigenous people compare the figure of Columbus to Hitler,” Morales said. “While there are some gory details in this story, it is important that we understand how insensitive Columbus Day celebrations are and the impact it may have on Native Americans or indigenous communities today.”

A cruel story

Columbus's 1492 voyage is taught in American schools at an early age, but the massacre Columbus committed when he arrived in America is not mentioned.

Morales said Columbus and his men brought "a scale of violence reaching the level of genocide that had no precedent on the great American continent before the Europeans."

Here are some examples of the atrocities committed by Columbus, according to the magazine Philadelphia Magazine:

• Columbus cut off the hands of approximately 10 natives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for not delivering gold every three months.
• He punished minor offenses by cutting off noses and ears.
• Columbus and his crew hunted the natives for fun and released them to be torn to pieces by hunting dogs.
• Columbus cut off the legs of local children trying to escape.
• He assisted in the sex trafficking of nine- and ten-year-old girls.

“We have no reason to glorify the legacy or figure of such a criminal,” Morales said.

Why Continuing to Celebrate Columbus Day is Harmful

In light of the well-documented brutality against Native Americans, Morales said celebrating Columbus Day means asserting that lives lost don't matter. In fact, he argued, echoes of Columbus's actions continue today.

Columbus used Doctrine of Discovery, to argue that these lands could be claimed because they had not yet been ruled by Christians. Morales said this means they have begun to exploit the land and resources that people there have managed sustainably for thousands of years.

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“We can view these actions in the light of our modern laws and reflect on understanding the deep roots of inequality throughout the continent,” Morales said. “We can see how they have permeated concepts of, for example, racial and economic privilege, leading to ideas of white supremacy or racism now, as well as various forms of ethnocentrism.”

Part of the result is the disproportionate impact on the health, economy and environment of Native Americans, who have lower life expectancies than other races.

Morales said Native Americans have lived on the continent for 16 years, but their primary history is characterized by colonization that occurred in just the last 000 years.

Indigenous Peoples' Day Movement

Morales said celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day means we stand against the violence caused with colonization.

“As we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we collectively condemn Columbus’s crimes as crimes against humanity,” Morales said.

It is also a celebration of the contributions of Native American communities.

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“By celebrating Indigenous peoples, we highlight that the lives, cultures, languages ​​and knowledges of Indigenous peoples in the United States and the greater continent are at the core of our society,” he said. “Finally, we reflect on how Indigenous peoples have emerged from the darkest chapters of U.S. history to truly become some of the most important environmentalists and leaders in biodiversity conservation.”

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