"COLUMBUS DAY"

THIS YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES, COLUMBUS DAY WILL BE OBSERVED ON OCTOBER 13, 2008. THE HOLIDAY IS TO COMMEMORATE THE FOUR VOYAGES OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO THE AMERICAS. IS IT A GOOD DAY FOR NATIVE AMERICANS? SHOULD NATIVE AMERICANS CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY WITH THE OTHER CITIZENS OF COUNTRIES IN THE AMERICAS?

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (COLUMBO IN ITALIAN) WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN BORN IN GENOA, ITALY AROUND 1451. HE DIED ON MAY 20, 1506. HE WAS AN ITALIAN NAVIGATOR, COLONIZER, AND EXPLORER. HE BELIEVED MICHAEL ANGELO'S IDEA THAT THE WORLD WAS ROUND. HE FELT IF SOMEONE TRAVELED WEST THEY COULD GO THE FAR EAST (INDIA AND SURROUNDING AREAS). COLUMBUS FIGURED THAT GOING BY SHIP WOULD BE FASTER AND LESS EXPENSIVE THEN THE LAND ROUTE THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST. THE LAND ROUTE WAS CONTROLLED BY THE ITALIANS AND THE ARABS. HE THOUGHT THAT IF HE COULD GO WEST AND GET THERE, HE COULD CUT OUT THE MIDDLE MEN (THE ITALIANS AND THE ARABS.)

COLUMBUS WENT TO QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN WITH THE IDEA. SHE ACCEPTED HIS IDEA. IN EUROPE IT WAS A TIME OF IMPERIALISM, ECONOMIC COMPETITION BETWEEN COUNTRIES FOR THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD, TRADE ROUTES AND COLONIES.

ONE FALSEHOOD THAT IS OFTEN TOLD IS THAT COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. THIS IS NOT TRUE. FOR ONE THING THE VIKINGS UNDER LEIF ERICKSON AND OTHER VIKING CAPTAINS HAD BEEN TO THE AMERICAS FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE ( AROUND 1000 A.D. ). THERE IS ALSO ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS, RECORDED HISTORY, ORAL TRADITION AND CULTURAL COMPARISIONS THAT PROVE THAT PEOPLE HAD VISITED THE AMERICAS FROM AFRICA, ASIA AND EUROPE BEFORE COLUMBUS.

COLUMBUS LEFT FOR THE FAR EAST TRAVELING WEST IN THREE SHIPS ON AUGUST 3, 1492. ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 12, 1492 AT AROUND 2 A.M. , ONE OF THE CREWMAN FROM ONE OF THE SHIPS SPOTTED LAND. THE LAND WAS REALLY AN ISLAND (SAN SALVADOR) IN THE BAHAMAS.

COLUMBUS FOUND THE NATIVES TO BE FRIENDLY AND PEACEFUL. THE NATIVES HE NOTICED HAD MANY SCARS ON THEIR BODIES. HE BELIEVED IT WAS FROM OTHER NATIVE PEOPLES COMING TO THIS ISLAND TO TAKE THESE ISLAND PEOPLE CAPTIVE (SLAVES).

IN HIS JOURNAL COLUMBUS SAID THE FOLLOWING ABOUT THE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE: "THEY OUGHT TO MAKE GOOD AND SKILLED SERVANTS. I THINK THEY CAN VERY EASILY BE MADE CHRISTIANS. THEY SEEM TO HAVE NO RELIGION. I COULD CONQUER THE WHOLE OF THEM WITH 50 MEN, AND GOVERN THEM AS I PLEASED." HE TOOK ALL THE GOLD AND VALUABLES HE COULD FIND. COLUMBUS KIDNAPPED 25 NATIVE AMERICANS TO TAKE BACK TO SPAIN. ONLY 7 OR 8 OF THE CAPTIVES MADE IT TO SPAIN ALIVE.

HIS SECOND TRIP TO THE AMERICAS, DEPARTED ON SEPTEMBER 24, 1493 WITH 1200 MEN AND 16 SHIPS. THE MEN WERE GOING TO COLONIZE THE NEW LANDS. WHEN COLUMBUS GOT BACK TO THE ISLAND, HE DEMANDED GOLD AND VALUABLES THAT THE NATIVES DID NOT HAVE. COLUMBUS THEN HAD HIS MEN GATHER UP HUNDREDS OF NATIVE AMERICANS. THEY WERE TORTURED AND KILLED. HE EVEN HAD THE HANDS AND FEET OF MANY OF HIS CAPTIVES CUT OFF TO GET THEM TO TALK. MANY WERE SENT BACK TO EUROPE. SO STARTED THE FIRST GENOCIDE IN THE AMERICAS. WHAT COLUMBUS DID NOT REALIZE IS THAT THESE NATIVE PEOPLE HAD THEIR OWN TRADE ROUTES AND TRADED WITH NATIVE AMERICANS ON THE MAIN LAND. THAT IS WHERE THE GOLD AND VALUABLES THAT HE WAS SEEKING HAD COME FROM.

THE SPANISH BROUGHT WITH THEM DISEASES THAT THE NATIVE PEOPLE HAD NO IMMUNITIES TO. THE ISLAND WHICH ORIGINALLY HAD AN ESTIMATED POPULATION OF ABOUT TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND (250,000) PEOPLE, WERE REDUCED BY DISEASE TO A POPULATION A FEW HUNDRED WITHIN A PERIOD OF ABOUT SIXTY (60) YEARS.

COLUMBUS MADE TWO MORE VOYAGES TO THE AMERICAS. THE SETTLERS OF THE ISLANDS WERE UNHAPPY WITH HIM , BECAUSE HE HAD PROMISED THEM GREAT WEALTH WHICH THE ISLANDS DID NOT HAVE. HE HUNG HIS OWN SAILORS TO KEEP CONTROL OVER HIS CREWS. HE WAS BROUGHT TO COURT FOR HIS ACTIONS IN SPAIN.

A WHILE BACK, A MOHEGAN CULTURAL OUTREACH WORKER TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT COLUMBUS TO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT . HE TOLD THEM ABOUT HOW COLUMBUS HAD CUT OFF THE HANDS AND FEET OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO GET THEM TO GIVE HIM TREASURE. THE TEACHER OF THE CLASS WAS OFFENDED AND WROTE A LETTER TO THE MOHEGAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT. THE MOHEGAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT DISCIPLINED THE WORKER FOR WHAT HE HAD SAID. MAYBE HE DID NOT SAY IT POLITICALLY CORRECT BUT WHAT HE DID SAY WAS THE TRUTH.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IS NO ONE TO BE LOOKED UP TO. HE WAS AN EVIL MAN. HE STARTED SLAVERY BY THE EUROPEANS IN THE AMERICAS. HE TORTURED AND KILLED OUR PEOPLE (NATIVE AMERICANS). HOW DARE HIM SAY WE DID NOT HAVE RELIGION. WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO FORCE NATIVE AMERICANS TO BE CHRISTIANS? HE DID NOT MAKE THEM CATHOLICS OR CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IT WAS AGAINST THEIR BELIEVES, TO ENSLAVE ANOTHER CATHOLIC. HE WANTED TO MAKE THEM SLAVES NOT CHRISTIANS.

SO THIS OCTOBER 13, 2008, WHEN MANY AMERICANS ARE CELEBRATING COLUMBUS DAY, NATIVE AMERICAN (FIRST PEOPLE) SHOULD REMEMBER WHO AND WHAT HE REALLY WAS. COLUMBUS WAS AN EVIL, BARBARIC MAN WHO STARTED THE FIRST GENOCIDE IN THE AMERICAS.