Today, October 9 — in an honest effort to heal the political polarization currently tormenting American society — I will be making the case for celebrating ‘Indigenous Columbus Day’.
When I looked at my iCal application earlier this month, I noticed that October 9 was going to be ‘Indigenous People’s Day’, and also that October 9 was going to be ‘Columbus Day’.
Columbus Day, as a federal holiday, dates back to 1892, according to a press release from Joe Biden’s White House.
Today, we celebrate all the Italian Americans, whose courage and character reflect and help define our Nation.
In 1891, 11 Italian Americans were murdered in one of the largest mass lynchings in our Nation’s history. In the wake of this horrific attack, President Benjamin Harrison established Columbus Day in 1892. For so many people across our country, that first Columbus Day was a way to honor the lives that had been lost, and to celebrate the hope, possibilities, and ingenuity Italian Americans have contributed to our country since before the birth of our republic.
One of those contributions by an Italian, before the birth of our republic, being the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his crew on the island of Guanahani — probably, San Salvador — and the subsequent near-extermination of the indigenous Taino inhabitants who had lived for centuries on the surrounding Caribbean islands. Which should have made it very clear, to everyone involved, that the New World now belonged to the Spanish Crown.
Columbus came looking for gold — which he didn’t find — but he did find something else. Indigenous people, who could be easily enslaved. He was hugely disappointed, a few years later, when Queen Isabela, after careful thought, decided not to open the New World to the buying and selling of enslaved people.
Why a red-blooded Italian would hand over an entire hemisphere to a Spanish queen with no business sense, was not fully explained in the history books I read in high school.
Another curious thing. When he set sail, Columbus didn’t actually know where he was going… and when he got there, he didn’t know where he was… and when he returned to Spain, he didn’t know where he’d been.
Sounds like something the Biden White House would want us to celebrate.
Anyway, the sighting of land by a member of Columbus’ crew took place on October 12, 1492, which is probably why we celebrate it on October 9. “Close enough for government work,” as my dad used to say.
The White House simultaneously published a press release, declaring October 9 as Indigenous People’s Day.
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples, show our gratitude for the myriad contributions they have made to our world, and renew our commitment to respect Tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
The story of America’s Indigenous peoples is a story of their resilience and survival; of their persistent commitment to their right to self-governance; and of their determination to preserve cultures, identities, and ways of life.
So, according to the White House, October 9 is a day to celebrate the perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples, and show our gratitude for the myriad contributions they have made to the world, and also, at the very same time, to celebrate the Europeans who initiated their near-extermination in the Western Hemisphere.
In my spare time, I’ve been learning about cognitive dissonance — the uncomfortable feeling that comes from holding two (or more) completely incompatible beliefs at the same time, and feeling certain that they are equally valid. As far as I can tell, this is a unique ability that separates humans from other animals.
It’s also the ability that has made American society possible. Especially, our governments.
In my personal struggle with cognitive dissonance, I’ve managed to convince myself that Christopher Columbus was, himself, an Indigenous person. That is to say, he was indigenous to Italy.
He simply wound up, accidentally, in the wrong place at the wrong time, convinced that he had landed in Indonesia.
That kind of thing could happen to anybody.
So I’m hoping Daily Post readers will join me in celebrating, and enjoying, Indigenous Columbus Day.
Maybe the Biden White House can adopt our new holiday, next year?
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.