Columbus day is a very tricky holiday. Ever since I took my college history class, I’ve had mixed emotions about what those of us who lived in the Bay Area called indigenous people’s day.
Christopher Columbus and his men did horrible things to the Native Americans he found in the West Indies. (Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States discusses such things; I have no desire to go into the details here.) Yet, knowing this and the fact that such maltreatment has become public knowledge hasn’t changed the fact that this holiday continues to be celebrated in the United States year after year. Moreover, the fact that Leif Ericson “discovered” America before Columbus did, makes the whole holiday moot.
Then comes the question of whether you can actually “discover” a land that already is inhabited – and has been for years. Sure, that is a highly philosophical question, but one that has repercussions. For, if you “discover” an already inhabited land, what does that do to those already living there? Well, we have some good examples throughout history that illustrate exactly what that sort of colonial mentality from the Western world does.
My question to you: How do you celebrate the holiday? For me, I tend to just continue on as it’s part of the work week. Many businesses do not acknowledge it as a holiday. Please post your thoughts in the comments section.
