Indigenous People Day 2012

Today we celebrate Columbus Day in the United States. Banks are closed, government offices are closed, postal stations are closed.

But yet we seem to still celebrate historical inaccuracies.

Yes, Columbus in 1492 sailed the ocean blues. But was he the first to "discover" America?

No he was not.

The Vikings ( Not the Minnesota NFL team) were know to have settled in the New World some 400 years prior to Christopher Columbus arriving in the Bahamas.

But honestly, how do you "discover" a place where people already live in?

This to me, is still a puzzling notion. So puzzling that the best way to address it is through stand up comedy brought you by Eddie Griffin.



Furthermore,  the idea to not give Indigenous people the "credit" to even exist before Columbus arrived seems ridiculous to me. That way of thinking, that indigenous people needed "saving", that in the eyes of religion they were considered not human, is still a notion that perpetuates today.  If you don't believe me, take a look at what happened in Bagua, Peru in 2009. Indigenous people of Bagua and their leaders decided to create a blockade after the Peruvian goverment passed legislation that "granted" access foreign investors to natural resources found in the amazon, found in Indigenous lands.  The government of Peru, led by then President Alan Garcia, decided that the best way to address this was to send armed forces and the outcome was 39 dead, 202 wounded with many still missing. Below, you will find a short documentary about the massacres at Bagua. Remembering Bagua (2011) from Anna Luisa D. & Bronwen M. on Vimeo.

You might ask yourself, so why is land so important to the indigenous people?

Well, because taking land away from indigenous people is taking their existence. Because land is sacred to the indigenous. Its not just a physical space, it is also a spiritual space, a cultural space that they call their own. Peruvian Indigenous leader, Santiago Manuin said it best "The indigenous exists because of their territory".

And it's because of acts like the one that happened in Bagua, that its important that we acknowledge the historical inaccuracies around Christopher Columbus. Should we really be celebrating a man, who enslaved, murdered indigenous people all in the name of religion and prestige? 

All around the world, countries are opting to celebrate Indigenous People Day, instead of Christopher Columbus Day. The question is why aren't we?

I like to leave you with a poem i wrote last year titled "Indigenous People Day". I hope the poem inspires you to question why we still celebrate Columbus Day. Because i can't find any reasons why we still do.

-rsc

Indigenous People Day Poem

by Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Today 518 years ago a man got lost

And found a ticket to fame

se persigno con la santa maria, la niña y la pinta

and left with god

traveled oceans

crossed timeline

towards the end of his world

lost years of human life

All to discover nothing.

landed on occupied land

and stole it

appropriated it

raped it

and called it HIS PA NIO LA

All in the name of the holy 1st world

he placed the blade on each side of their shoulders

anointed the soldiers metal

and declare holy war

treated natives as cattle

slaughtered butchered, conquered

it doesn't matter what noun you use

massacre still has the same effect.

and he continued on...

in the name of precious metal and spices

Enslaved thousands

to give them diseases

inject them with greed and rabies

expose them to a religion that

calls them

savages

murderers

ignorant

not human

and he continued on...

erased their way of life by force

enforced their ways

brick by brick

layer by layer

until their buildings replaced ours

hoping we forget

but we havent..

518 years and counting..

we have been speaking

you never chose to listen..

u gave us second class citizenship

yet you never chose to listen

you called our meeting a cultural exchange

but you never chose to listen

you gave us names because you couldnt pronounce ours

and you are still not listening

so we keep speaking

we keep asking...

Why do we build statues,

name avenues,

throw parades

for a man who got lost and discovered nothing?

-rsc