“In 1942, Columbus sailed the ocean Blue,” is the history rhyme that taught the story of how Christopher Columbus founded America. Except he actually didn’t.
He instead landed in the Bahamas in search of gold where he was greeted by the native Arawak people that lived there.
He called them “Indians” because he thought he had landed in the East Indies. In his diary he wrote that they were handsome, smart and kind people.
Columbus also wrote that they were “built strong, but did not bare arms or know war, for when he showed them a sword, they cut themselves because of their ignorance.”
Creating slaves out of the native people to bring back to Europe was worth just as much as gold in his eyes.
Thus, he turned on them and attacked for Spain. He and his men murdered, raped and killed over a third of their overall populations. His treatment of the native people was brutal.
He and his men would bash newborn baby’s heads against rocks to feed to their dogs.
They would cut off native ears and noses for not finding enough gold for them.
Columbus encouraged his men to rape native girls as young as 9 and 10-years old. They would cut off the legs of young children just to test how sharp their blades were.
He also wrote how he would break the women down by raping them over and over until they were traumatized enough to do whatever else he wanted them to. Many would kill themselves to escape this new enslaved existence.
This is the sad reality that has been glossed over in American history.
We were more so taught how “The pilgrims and the Indians” came together for Thanksgiving with the harsh realities of genocide hardly discussed.
It’s evident how uneducated most Americans are when they still view native people as if they were a people of the past.
Hundreds of years later, native people are still here and facing the challenges that come after being silenced for so long.
What Americans once considered Christopher Columbus Day has starting to change to Indigenous People’s Day; highlighting and celebrating underrepresented native cultures.
Many cities have openly embraced the change, with the City of Dallas recognizing Indigenous People’s Day for the first time in their history this year.
UNT’s Native American Student Association celebrated their own Indigenous People’s Day event that served to educate attendees about different tribes, breaking stereotypes and telling their own experiences Monday, October 8 in the UNT Union.
Emilia Gaston is a Doctoral student studying sociology and serves as president of the organization. She believes Indigenous People’s Day serves as something they can get to reclaim, which is empowering.
Especially for urban Indians who don’t live on tribal lands.
“Some people are literally starved for their culture. We have to go out of our way to find it by way of organizations like this to create our own spaces,” said Gaston.
Renaming the holiday has given native people a chance to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the past and present.
Gaston is glad that it’s making people realize they’re still here and to stop talking about Indigenous people as if they were a thing of the past.
“We know we’re living, breathing and thriving, but a lot of people tend to refer to us as the people who are no longer here or don’t exist anymore. So letting everyone know what’s going on for the future and what we’re doing now with strengthening our communities is awesome.”
Some of the ways they’re strengthening their communities is by taking back their individual languages and reconnecting with their roots.
Lane Barrett is a freshman psychology major at UNT and is also Blue Clan Cherokee (Anisahoni). She found out about the organization at orientation when she heard flutes being played.
She went running to their tabling, and cried tears of joy knowing that there was an organization just for her.
“The Native American community is one that’s looked over and seen as unimportant because we’re so small. Here, it’s a special experience to be around people that I identify and share similar stories with,” said Barrett.
More than anything, she wants people to know that it’s ignorant for those who claim to be Cherokee to say they’re just Cherokee alone, because Cherokee is broken up within bands.
Bands are federally recognized tribes and the Eastern Band, Keetoowah and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma make up the tribes that Barrett is apart of.
“If you are Cherokee or if were told you were, learn about it.”
The organization members presented their individual cultures. Barrett adorned her traditional wear and explained the roots and origins of how and why there were made.
Another member discussed the Turquoise and how sacred the mineral stone was to the Navajo.
Anthony Tommy Zamora is a freshman linguistics major. He opened up his presentation speaking Nahuatl, an indigenous Aztec language.
He spoke on the realities of how native speakers are mostly elderly with the next generations not knowing how to speak it.
He’s putting together a website called Modern Nuhuatl Dictionaries for anybody who wants to learn.
“The elders would say don’t forget your homeland. For like a tree, you will certainly die without your roots,” said Zamora.
The members held a panel discussion where the members answered questions from the audience. The deep topics touched on many issues that native people face today, like the misconceptions of “Sexy Indian Costumes” commonly sold on Yandy.
97% of native women have experienced violence. They are two and half more times to be raped and stalked.
8 out of 10 native women are likely to experience violence from non-native partners. They are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than the national average.
So, to be stereotyped from a costume as something that’s sexy is dangerously destructive. In September of this year, Yandy faced backlash for selling a “Sexy Handmaid’s Tale” costume.
Due to the backlash, they took it down.
Handmaid’s Tale is a fictional television show highlighting abuses of women.
It just came out while native women are real people, who for years have spoken up against the removal of appropriating costumes to no avail.
The group spoke on blood quantum which is a sensitive topic for some of the members.
Barrett, who has light eyes and dirty blond hair recounts the numerous times people have asked her “how much are you?”
She feels that people try to invalidate her heritage, because of this.
Asking native people to see their Native American Indian cards, is disrespectful. Similar to if someone were to ask you to see your social security card out of nowhere.
Assuming native teens automatically get to go college for free couldn’t be further from the truth that they don’t.
Like everybody else that has to work hard to gain scholarships or money to attend, so do they.
No, they’re not rich from making money from casinos. In fact, the poverty cycle is continuous in native communities.
No, they don’t automatically smoke weed just because they’re native.
Reaching out and touching someone’s hair braid without their permission isn’t only offensive, but just plain rude.
Along with tackling the issues and presenting their cultures, the organization was open to speaking more in depth with attendees and encouraged membership in order to learn more.
As for Indigenous People’s Day vs Columbus Day: It’s much more patriotic to celebrate the heroes of history; Never the villains.
Columbus stepped on a people’s land. A people who could have attacked he and his men.
They weren’t ignorant or stupid for being so trusting.
They weren’t weak for not waging war or having weapons.
Instead, they were willing to invite strangers into their homes.
They were willing to share their own culture, and to that we celebrate.