Today is Indigenous People’s day not Columbus day.
— Mr. Credible Hulk (@Pundit_AcadEMIC) October 12, 2015
A few days ago, I wrote about how Christopher Columbus was in fact really cruel and has a particularly bloody history. Because of his cruelty and awful track record, I don’t think that he deserves a national day and instead we as a nation should follow in the footsteps of many cities and celebrate indigenous peoples day. Several cities, including Portland OR, Minneapolis, MN, and Seattle WA, have all declared today as Indigenous Peoples Day.
Join us TOMORROW at 2pm to support #IndigenousPeoplesDay resolution confronting history of Indian Boarding Schools http://t.co/S5oSOtlgsD — Kshama Sawant (@cmkshama) October 11, 2015
#IndigenousPeoplesDay Seattle 2015 pic.twitter.com/RwqisiaOgw — Farah (@FarahLiebknecht) October 12, 2015
Today should be one to celebrate, support, and learn about the native peoples of the US. Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about 13 issues that native people still face, like poverty and poor health care. HuffPo also talked with Roxanna Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States.
REQUIRED READING! Boarding school is such a misnomer… Cultural genocide factory or torture ranch more accurate. https://t.co/IGpOoRDeQM
— IsaJennie (@IsaJennie) October 12, 2015
There is literally so much to learn about the native and indigenous people of the US and of the Americas. Our education systems fails in numerous ways, one of which includes talking about the brutal ways in which the US government has treated the native populations and how many places still celebrate Christopher Columbus.
It’s interesting growing up in an area rich in Native American culture (I’m about an hour outside of Seattle). I feel like aspects of that culture are a part of my culture because they’re everywhere – place names, totem poles, art, history, everything – but I also know it’s NOT mine. There seems to be a balance around here of sharing that culture and yet understanding that it’s still a separate thing. I feel very drawn to the art styles and mythologies of the local tribes because I was immersed in those things as a child – and I’m very grateful and aware that those aspects were chosen to be shared.
That’s actually been my experience as well! I live in Bellingham, WA (also about an hour and a half outside of Seattle) and was lucky enough to see a lot of native culture. I always realized that the native culture around me was something to be valued and celebrated but it would never be my culture. I’m so thankful for that aspect of my childhood because like you said, it was really nice to have that cultural sharing but realizing my own space as a white person (something that has deepened for me over the years).
There was also this sense of being separate from the actual native communities too because while I grew up around a lot of native art and culture, I hardly ever actually interacted with people from the community unfortunately.
Ooh, hello fellow Washingtonian!