Christopher Columbus Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1792. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially established it as a federal holiday. Columbus Day was initially intended to celebrate the arrival of European settlers to the Americas. However, with this arrival came hundreds of years of violence and oppression against the Indigenous people who already inhabited the land. Columbus did not “discover” America, but instead brutally invaded and conquered the land that was home to millions of people.
“To commemorate Columbus is to commemorate European colonization of Indigenous peoples. Instead of recalling and recounting those tawdry tales, let us instead cite and celebrate a most improbable outcome of this history: Indigenous survivance.”
Joseph P. Gone, Faculty Director, Harvard University Native American Program
The day Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, he immediately began killing and enslaving the Natives. Throughout his voyages, Columbus and his crew of Europeans routinely tortured, murdered, raped, and enslaved the Indigenous people they encountered, starting the genocide against Native Americans which occurred over the next few hundred years.
Before Columbus’ arrival, the estimated population of Indigenous people in North America was over 10 million. By 1900, that number dropped below 300,000. Columbus brought the newly booming slave trade into the “new world” and began the mass enslavement and selling of Natives. The Lucayan, Taino, and Arawak tribes were forced by Columbus into a tribute system in which all natives aged 14 and above were required to provide a specific amount of gold quarterly. If they did not meet this quota they were subject to extreme violent punishments such as having their hands cut off with no treatment. Columbus sold Indigenous women and girls, many as young as nine or ten years old, into sexual slavery. The atrocities he led against the Natives were countless, and the impact of his brutality is still felt by Native Americans today.
“History is a narrative; it’s a collection of stories sanctioned by the ruling power, and reinforced through words and images that suit them.”
Kent Monkman, Fisher River Cree Nation
Native Americans are one of the most oppressed groups in the U.S. According to the United States Census Bureau, Indigenous Americans have the highest poverty rate of any minority group. In 2018, the national poverty rate was 25.5% among Native Americans, while only 8.1% among White Americans. Since the arrival of Columbus and the subsequent European colonization, Native Americans have lost nearly 99% of their land.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day was not officially recognized as a Federal Holiday until 2021 by President Joe Biden. The holiday redirects the unjust praise of Christopher Columbus to the remembrance and celebration of Native Americans and Indigenous people across the world. While this day of recognition is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t erase the hundreds of years of brutality inflicted by Europeans and the American Government. Despite this hardship, Native Americans continue to persevere and celebrate their culture—against all odds.
“Our history is a living history, that has throbbed, withstood and survived many centuries of sacrifice.”
Rigoberta Menchú Tum, K’iche