By Greg Horner, Staff Reporter.
Whether it’s the auctioning of slaves while all men are created equal, or destiny manifesting itself in massacres and reservations; America’s history has not lived up to its ideals. The words we have placed on paper have not been followed through in action. To overcome the disconnect when history falls short, national myths are created to hide the public from the truth. Oct. 13 was Columbus Day, and with Native Americans speaking out against misrepresentations in popular media and history; many cities across the country have stopped celebrating Columbus and started honoring Indigenous Peoples Day instead.
Misconceptions abound about Christopher Columbus. He never thought the world was flat, and never believed he had landed in India. While remembered as a sailor, Columbus’ claim to fame was as viceroy, a regal official who represents the interests of the monarch, of the Indies. As viceroy, the decisions and actions of Columbus would prove so incompetent and immoral that even Spain, hardly an example of a benevolent colonizer, dismissed him for cruelty.
Columbus’ actions would act as a primer for the future of European and Native interactions. Soon conquistadors and colonies would take hold, and they would ultimately follow in Columbus’ example of subjugation and resettlement, but their arrival would come after the apocalypse. For amongst the writings and accounts of Columbus’ first expedition, are also the first recordings of the plague that would ravage both continents.
Entire nations, the names of which we’ll never know, were erased. Native Americans had little interaction with the diseases of Europe; diseases which developed from large concentrations of domestic livestock. It’s not surprising that later explorers and settlers would describe the continent as “empty” in their writings; smallpox had erased even the memory of many people.
The American continents were home to civilizations as developed and multi-faceted as any in the “Old World”. Native Americans developed advanced mathematics and created complex calendars and systems of writing. The cities of Tenochtitlan and Machu Picchu boasted larger populations and more commerce than any city in Europe. The notion of European superiority, and the concept of the noble savage has been thoroughly debunked.
In truth, Columbus didn’t discover America and he didn’t conquer it either. The responsibility of the atrocities that would follow do not fall solely on his hands. Celebrating Columbus Day not only ignores the cultures that were exploited, but ignores the responsibility that each succeeding settler and colonizer bears. It’s easy for Americans to say Columbus stole America while ignoring the role their own country had in the theft.
Americans, and the inheritors of all colonial states, will never be able to reverse the atrocities that helped build this country. But we can begin to embrace the heritage and history of native peoples without resorting to appropriation. Let us continue to strive towards a more perfect and open society. As our nation grows in the 21st century, we continue to face new challenges and new ways of thinking. Millions of Americans, both native and settled, have begun celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day as a way to honor those whose voices have been silenced for generations. America’s past will never live up to our ideals if we continue to revere old icons. Instead we must acknowledge the past and celebrate the history of a new world.
