Monday is called Columbus Day on the calendar on my wall. For those of us who have read Howard Zinn's
"People's History of the United States" or Hans Koning's
Columbus: HIs Enterprise, however, we know that we must stop celebrating the notion of "discovery" that masks the rapacious search for "Gold, glory and God" by Columbus and a generation of conquerors (conquistadores) from Europe. Don't even get me started on how this paradigm has infected our body politic and created bad ramifications all the way up to the present.
Resources for those who want to do something to set the record straight below the fold.
- Start with a topical discussion with your students, friends, and relatives about the six nations of people who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina whose plight has not shown up on the national radar. Perhaps you can google these names and find out more: Chitmacha Nation, Choctaw Nation, Houma Nation, Coushatta Nation, Poarch Creek Nation, and Tunica-Biloxi Nation.
- Order copies of Rethinking Columbus for your school and library so that they can use them both on Monday and in future discussions of Thanksgiving and Columbus
- Look at the Native American names of the states, counties, cities, and landmarks in your area and google them. Find out more about the people who used to inhabit the place you live.
- While you are at it, look up the native people in your area and see if there is anything you can do to help. Not all Native peoples own casinos, and in fact many of them do not support gambling (not "gaming," a name used by those who support this regressive attack on the poor and addicted).
- Find out why Native people do not support Mascotting (such as the use of the name "Washington Redskins" and why they are mad as hell that the federal government cannot even account for the Native lands that it has grossly mismanaged.
- Consider spending your holiday dollars on groups producing authentic Native American crafts and supporting Native American communities such as the American Indian Community House.
- Read more about groups trying to bring us a more complete picture of what happened 500+ years ago, such as Rethinking Schools, Teaching for Change, Facing History and Ourselves, National Coalition of Education Activists, and Resource Center of the Americas.
Any other ideas or resources you'd like to recommend?
Happy Native People's Day!