Indigenous day huh? Well not a bad idea, but we’re not replacing Columbus day with it. ID is a fine open idea to honor the original inhabitants of this, the greatest country in the World, The United States of America. Additionally the idea of bringing people together is a good idea as well.

The concept of airing a short film about the “Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii” doesn’t fit well into your “lets all get together” aura though. Unless the intention is to stir up animosity and anger.

I agree that ID is a good idea, I suggest that boxes of tissue be handed out as well for all of the blubbering and ‘gimme-gimmes’ attitude that any “minority” tends to preach. Equality is what they ask for, but when it comes down to it they want extra handouts so they can be “more equal.” But in the real world that logic doesn’t cut it.

Giving one minority group a federal holiday does not solve their problems. Look at most reservations today: the unemployment rates are much higher than the nonreservation population. People live in third-world conditions and with third-world expectations in the United States? Well as long as we dedicate a holiday, it makes it all better! Obama should declare tomorrow “Economy Day” since it will make things better apparently.

But in all seriousness, holidays do nothing to create awareness and initiate change within our culture- they only inspire us to buy greeting cards.

As I understand it, replacing Columbus Day is critical. We want to call attention to the crimes Columbus and other invading Europeans committed against indigenous peoples.

I’m proud to go to work on “Columbus Day.” A holiday for the phony founder of America? What a joke. When he landed somewhere in Central America he thought he was in India. We are not only rewarding someone for cruelty and murder of the indigenous population, we are rewarding incompetence. I am pretty sure that he would have been a stellar UNM hire though.

It’s so great this idea has been put forth — makes the most sense to me. About time we denounced the horrible ungliness of colonialism and slavery — genocide both — that this country is founded on. Personally, I give my black and native american sisters and brothers great thanks and love for their understanding that I’m just a descendant of the white anglos who have done all these horrors to the world — it wasn’t up to me, but I will certainly stand up and acknowledge it was wrong. The sins of our fathers are visited upon us. Let us make ammends, make peace, and make the world safe and healthy again. Great creator bless us all. :) And I say thank you to the American Indians for your healing and teachings, and for sharing. I am so sorry it has to come at such a price to your people.

Interesting how the Indians have done nothing other than embraced Western culture; modern medicine, education, higher standard of living…then they turn around and spit on those who have provided it to them.

COLUMBUS DAY IS FOR LOVERS

It’s Columbus Day! The 37th holiest day of the year. The day we celebrate the much hallowed voyage of Christopher Columbus who sailed the ocean blue in 1492, to Discover America.

Read more …

@Damien- you are so uninformed. Been watching those hollywood movies, huh? Racist!!!

Columbus was not even trying to discover america. He abused the long gone natives of Cuba and was in it for the $$$. There is no reason to celebrate this “holiday”.

Throughout history, only a handful of men have brought about such tremendous change for the world—in both negative and positive ways. The United States of America honors one of its most tremendous renegades for change with a holiday called Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. King brazenly went against the traditionally held views of the time and helped push our country into a modern state of enlightenment. He is the well-deserving recipient of a day to honor his strong leadership for a cause he keenly believed in. His motives were clearly not of narcissistic root, but were in place rather for a broad, socially influential cause to rid his people of the abuses that kept his people in slavery even after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Another man upheld by The United States as somewhat of a hero, and celebrated also with his own day named in his honor is Christopher Columbus. Columbus undoubtedly changed the way our modern world now works and his influence can be felt by many of the people both in the eastern and western hemispheres. Yet many still question why he is so widely upheld—and especially why we as an American nation should not only name a day after him, but also recognize it as a day of national holiday. Columbus Day can somewhat be considered one of the United States’ national pastimes. It was celebrated in cities across America in 1792, although it wasn’t officially recognized as a holiday by the state of Colorado until 1905. This early acceptance of Columbus’ heroics contributes tremendously to the fact that we now uphold him with such esteem. One of the reasons offered as to why we celebrate the holiday is that it promotes our national pride and American patriotism. The patriotic fervor even helped Catholics who were being persecuted by Christians to help gain a stronger foothold in their American rights. These Catholic immigrants banded together under the name the Knights of Columbus, which helped to promote their assimilation into the Christian, American society—who upheld Columbus as an American hero. This helped them to gain mutual benefits comparable to others in the American society in the later 19th century—and choosing Columbus as their patron was a tremendous factor in their acceptance. In this case, and in the case of many Italian immigrants, Columbus is very much an icon and a beacon for hope. He allowed the expansion that was so badly needed for the people of Italy and Europe in general, but at the cost of Native Americans of Central America, then eventually North and South America.
In recent times, facts have come to light about Columbus and how he treated the so-called “Indians” of the New World. According to the History Channel’s page on Columbus, he not only “treated the indigenous groups they came across as obstacles to their greater mission,” for riches and land, but also enslaved them without hesitation. According to the same source, upon arriving he “ordered six of the natives to be seized, writing in his journal that he believed they would be good servants.” The page then goes on to explain how Columbus imposed his power over the people by putting down any uprisings with an iron fist and having the natives work in plantations or gold mines for his monetary benefit. He also attempted to take some of the “peaceful Taino ‘Indians’ from the island of Hispanola to Spain to be sold. Many died on route.” He directly exploited these native people of modern day Dominican Republic, but his influence was felt in years to come on both continents of the Western World. This resulted in my people, the Navajos, being placed on a reservation that is in parts of our state of Arizona. This land that was eventually given to us by the government was later bickered over with our neighboring tribe, the Hopis. It resulted in many unnecessary deaths and grudges that have lasted clear through to our modern time. A huge part of this bickering was a result of the how the government bounded the Native Americans land with borders that were not necessarily true to their roaming ways. The Navajos never really thought of land as being owned by a certain tribe or not—they probably thought that the land was there to be shared among them all.
As many of us know, his idea of finding a new trade route to the Indies was not supported by his own country of Italy, and neither by Portugal. He had to beg Spain for their support and his profiteering might have been intensified by his passion to prove those who denied him wrong and to make Spain glad they bestowed him with such an opportunity. He had a whole Old World to prove his worth to, and nothing to prove to the New World—other than that he and his men were a superior race. This mindset is what put the wheels in motion for the subsequent exploitation of the New World and the somewhat inadvertent swarm of disease that eventually engulfed the 2 continents with ghastly death. For these reasons, there are still those who consider his actions morally incorrect. This can be buttressed by the many protests that occur on Columbus Day parades, as well communities changing the name of the holiday to things such as “Indigenous People’s Day” in Berkeley, CA. “For many of us, the explicit celebration of the colonial attempt to eradicate the indigenous religions confirmed the analysis that to celebrate Columbus is to celebrate genocide and the worst excesses of religious chauvinism.” According to a Colorado writer named Sean McAllister who wrote an article on the protests being held in Denver during the early 90’s when people were attempting to have a Columbus Day parade. The facts proving that Columbus was a profiteer, who was on a one-tracked pursuit for riches, dissolves the moral reasons for his celebration. Upon discovering of Native people, he was ecstatic to proclaim that they could be exploited for their slave labor. In my opinion, the reason why he is still celebrated by our culture is that he is an excuse for those who are cutthroat profiteers to sidestep their guilt and evil, narcissistic mindsets. If Columbus got away with all of those things and still remains a glorified man, why can’t we too do awful things to gain what we desire? This is the mentality we are giving to our children and the generations after them if we still keep Columbus Day a nationally recognized holiday.

I do not understand the current defamation going on of Christopher Columbus in the United States.
On wikipedia he is accused of killing “millions himself”.
And in many articles he is accused of indirectly being responsible for nearly wiping out the Native American population.
What a joke. We only have to open our eyes and look around at the CURRENT evidence.
In the new world, we have the northern area, English speaking Protestants for the most part.
In the southern areas, south of Mexico, we have the Spanish and Portuguese speaking areas.
Look at the current inhabitants, their bloodline, their genetics, the Native American mix is clearly seen in the southern areas. Clearly, the indigenous peoples south of the United Stares fared better. Who wiped out whom?
Look at the U.S., how many people with Native American blood live on your street?
Consider Andrew Jackson’s infamous quote “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”
The current liberal trend of defaming Christopher Columbus is bogus. Just look around, you can see the truth.
Anti-Catholicism may be at the root of the current non-sense. Regarding slavery, who is the biggest culprit? Mexico outlawed slavery long before the United States—this included Texas. And then the U.S. captures Texas and brings back slavery.
Liberals need to get history right and stop exaggerating the negative aspects of Christopher Columbus’ brave exploring; usually attributing to Columbus the evil work of some desperate people that followed him. Columbus helped bring the advances of Western Europe in most fields of human pursuit to the indigenous people.
Believe it or not, Christian ideals of how we should live are superior to constant tribe warfare and cannibalism.
Duh…

Racist?? Do you not have anymore to offer? Is that the extent of your ability to debate? How foolish. I do not see the world in terms of race, as you do. I see the world in terms of individuals, each choosing to join or associate themselves with different groups. Please consider the following:

Prior to 1492, what is now the United States was sparsely inhabited, unused, and undeveloped. The inhabitants were primarily hunter/gatherers, wandering across the land, living from hand to mouth and from day to day. There was virtually no change, no growth for thousands of years. With rare exception, life was nasty, brutish, and short: there was no wheel, no written language, no division of labor, little agriculture and scant permanent settlement; but there were endless, bloody wars. Whatever the problems it brought, the vilified Western culture also brought enormous, undreamed-of benefits, without which most of today’s Indians would be infinitely poorer or not even alive.

Read more …

Columbus was the most accomplished seaman of his day, and his feat of sailing from Spain to the North American Continent is not to be discounted. It’s silly and naive to attempt to say that an Indeginous day would be a rational substitute. No one actually thinks that there were no human beings when Columbus sailed, the history books give an account of the Native Americans who inhabited the land. The fact is that the Native Americans never collectively came together, nor had the resources to with hold the land from settlers. Grow up and get over it. It’s referred to as conquering. It’s been done since time began.

I can’t beleive this farce is still going on, and what’s more some poor sad individuals want to take it out on some dead Spaniard? Baloney! And Nell, I if you feel that way you should sell all your belongings and find either an African American or Native American and give them all your money.

Many parellels with the Native Americans and Hawaiians…

Loving and giving people exploited in a changing world

Read more …

There are so many opinions here, all over the place, and it only proves that non-Indians really need to be educated. So many stereotypes, it’s pathetic. What are they teaching in schools these days?

It was my assumption that UNM would have more forward thinking, intelligent, open-minded students attending here, but after reading this, well, this has sadly proved me wrong. Man, where did you all come from? I thought I was back in the South.

Read more …

Yeah, seriously, when I come here I don’t feel like a UNM student but like I am dealing with many cranky Ferengi.

So Damian, supposing some day a spacecraft lands on your lawn and its occupants decide that you are not refined enough to go on living your life in your primitive ways and that whatever developments you have made in accordance to your environment are no match for the technological advances that they have made in accordance to THEIR environment, THEREFORE you deserve to be killed, or assimilated into their civilization, which may or may not include the exact opposite of EVERYTHING you have ever known, believed, loved or held sacred….and not only are you subjected to this treatment…..but so is your mother, your father, your KIN….supposing all this……by your logic (which believe me is NOT rooted in any factual analysis of how Indigenous people actually lived “pre-contact”) but by that fragile logic…..you would be fine with all of this…and would support the celebration of this very encounter you had with a spacecraft of “superior” beings. Yes Damian. i see it now. You are unable to understand any of this because you will never be threatened by anything “superior” to you as an individual. I’m thinking….. “egocentric”…not necessarily eurocentric….although the two tend to be indistinguishable….call me racist.

First,let’s get the fact straight,columbus was a Slave Trader for Spain. He made frequent trips to west Africa (slave trading purposes), before he got lost in the Atlantic ocean,then upon landing in what he thought was the Indies,began calling the Natives “Indians”, a term that I refute on a daily basis,so thank you for that terminology columbus. He was the first in a long line of Spaniards who committed GENOCIDE on the Native Americans.For this the hispanics and spaniards love to celebrate this on ‘columbus day’.Hispanics have to realize that they are mixed race, half Native/Spaniard, the word in spanish is ‘mestizo’.so know Ur history…

We’re all Americans. Screw you hyphen-americans. Do we need to declare war again!?

It’s the “americans” like Tyler that makes people rather be known as “hyphen-americans” (if we even want to be considered “american” at all) than the simple-minded-plain-ignorant-non-hyphenated “american”

Declare war? Tyler, both of your comments (on this article and the other) are ridiculous and ignorant. It must lonely living in the mountains in your one room shack. Weirdo!

Damian, you are so sadly misinformed that instead of feeling angry that you are spreading lies, I just feel sorry for you. “Prior to 1492, what is now the United States was sparsely inhabited, unused, and undeveloped. The inhabitants were primarily hunter/gatherers, wandering across the land, living from hand to mouth and from day to day.” Had you heard of the Mayans? The pueblo Indians? Sparsely inhabited, yeah, after the smallpox arrived and killed off at least 50% of the population. And there’s also the fact that Columbus was responsible for the extinction of the whole Arawak population on the Dominincan Republic (where he first landed, for those of you saying Cuba) and the reduction of the population of natives in surrounding islands by 90%. Sure, he paved the path for “Western Culture” to become prevalent in the Americas, but, while you might think that western culture is a benefit, I’d guess the millions of native americans who died as a result of the invasion of westerners and their germs wouldn’t agree, and neither would the millions of Africans enslaved, so that their labor could plunder the resources of the New World. So please don’t act as if Westerners did the “brutal, tribal” (basically, you are saying they were dumb) native americans a favor when they came and imposed their worldview. You are free to honor those who are willing to kill and enslave millions so that they can (in the most benevolent view of invading westerners) impose their views on as many people as possible. Just remember, that’s the same kind of person that Hitler was. I’m not saying Columbus had the same values as Hitler, but he was sure willing to kill and enslave for those values.

Hello Arawak,

I am not spreading lies. I understand your point of view. It is historical fact that America was not some sort of peaceful paradise prior to Columbus. However, Columbus day has a much deeper, richer, meaning than just a man whom came to the Americas to spread disease.

Read more …

Holy Crap Damian! Think it will hurt much when you fall off your high horse? The misconceptions presented in your argument is exactly why Columbus Day is total BS.

“a man of pride, who sought recognition and reward for his achievements.” Umm… yeah he was arrested and condemned as a criminal once he returned to Spain. Not even people back then thought killing off almost a whole population after mistakenly landing on an island in the Caribbean.

Read more …