A Day In Honour Of Indigenous Peoples

Posted on by under Global Issues, Holidays, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, Tributes

This is a partial reprise of a post I did in 2019, but with some revisions/additions/updates.

Last Friday, 7 October 2022, President Biden issued the 2nd Presidential Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  There has been a growing movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day and at least ten states have already done so.  Ten other states officially observe the day, though they have not replaced Columbus Day as yet.  In addition, more than 100 cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Many students learn the phrase, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. But Columbus was not the first foreign explorer to land in the Americas. Neither he nor those that came before him discovered America—because Indigenous Peoples have populated the Western Hemisphere for tens of thousands of years. European contact resulted in devastating loss of life, disruption of tradition, and enormous loss of lands for Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. It is estimated that in the 130 years following first contact, Native America lost 95 percent of its population.

Over the past few decades there has been a growing movement to alter the holiday to honour those who first occupied the country.  So … how did this all start?

In 1977, the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, began to discuss replacing Columbus Day in the United States with a celebration to be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

1992 would mark the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Columbus, and there was a “Quincentennial Jubilee” planned to mark the date.  In San Francisco, the day was to include replicas of Columbus’ ships sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and reenacting their “discovery” of America.  It was then that the Bay Area Indian Alliance was formed, and they created the “Resistance 500” task force, promoting the idea that Columbus’ “discovery” of inhabited lands and subsequent European colonization of these areas had resulted in the genocide of indigenous peoples by decisions of colonial and national governments.

The group convinced the city council of Berkeley, California, to declare October 12 as a “Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People” and 1992 the “Year of Indigenous People”. The city implemented related programs in schools, libraries, and museums. The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” beginning in 1992 to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans, and to call attention to the losses suffered by the Native American peoples and their cultures through diseases, warfare, massacres, and forced assimilation.

In the current socio-political culture whereby many states and localities are attempting to whitewash the history of this nation, to pretend that European settlers, white people, were some shining stars without fault, I think it is more important than ever that we remember our past, recognize the horrific wrongs that were done to Indigenous Peoples as well as Blacks, Hispanics and others, in order to ensure that future generations will will never repeat these terrible tragedies.indig-peoples-day.jpgIn the years following Berkeley’s action, other local governments and institutions have either renamed or canceled Columbus Day, either to celebrate Native American history and cultures, to avoid celebrating Columbus and the European colonization of the Americas, or due to raised controversy over the legacy of Columbus.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the many contributions indigenous people have made to our world:

  • indig-peoples-day-3Constitution & Bill of Rights: According to Benjamin Franklin, the “concept” for the federal government was influenced by the Constitution of the Iroquois League of Nations.
  • Sign Language:  Today, hand signals are used to communicate with those who are deaf and/or mute. A similar system was originated to facilitate trade between Native Americans and early trappers/traders.
  • Products:  Native Americans are credited with introducing such diverse products as snowshoes, moccasins, toboggans, buckskin jackets, Kayaks, cradle boards, tomahawks, rubber, cotton, quinine, tobacco, cigars, and pipe smoking, among others.
  • Military Service:  The participation rate of Native Americans in military service is higher than for any other ethnic group in the U.S.  Members from many Indian nations have served with distinction and in a way that helped the U.S. win World Wars I and II… through the use of their various Native languages.
  • Conservation:  The Native Americans have always held a deep respect for the land and for our connection to this planet known as “Mother Earth.” They have always striven to live in harmony with the seasons and the land, to take only what was needed, and to thank every plant, animal, or thing that was used.
  • Art/Design:  The traditional and contemporary music of Native Americans have become integrated in many other cultures and musical styles. Indian artwork such as paintings, beadwork, totem poles, turquoise jewelry, and silversmithing, all remain beautiful and unmatched in this society.

Native-American-Day-Wampanoag-220px-SquantohowwellthecornprosperedAnd of course, a wide variety of foods, including potatoes, beans, corn, peanuts, pumpkins, tomatoes, squash, peppers, nuts, melons, and sunflower seeds.

We can never make up to the indigenous people in the Americas for what was done to their ancestors, but we can resolve to do better, and we can honour them in this way, by setting aside a special day of remembrance for all that they went through, and for all that they have given. celebrate-500-years-of-survival

Note to Readers:  I am closing comments on this post, for the comments have gotten out of hand.  Sorry, folks.

52 thoughts on “A Day In Honour Of Indigenous Peoples”

  3. Since I’m not US -o- phile I very much doubt the CIA would want o pay me anything at all. I’m not blind to their sins nor to their machinations. But,, as I saw it, The majority of the Ukrainians didn’t want the ‘puppet of Putin’ President and chose ‘the actor ‘who took his place and took their country in a different direction. I did not see the Maidan Massacre as orchestrated by the United States but rather by the actions of Yanukovych fearful of losing his grip on power. Though I don’t doubt any U.S. influence since that date, I see it as a reaction to Putin’s annexation of the Crimea. Not everyone is such a fan of him as you are, nor of his attempt to recreate the Old Russian Empire and sphere of influence. There are now many independent nations happy to enjoy their National Sovereignty..

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  4. First kill them, steal their land, their livelihood, drive them into reservations, see them wither away … and then creating a day for them. A full day of speeches and memorandums and crocodile tears. 😦 Hypocrite much?

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    • There is no hypocrisy here, Orca. This is called evolution of the mind and spirit. We who are descended from the Original Human Inhabitants of Turtle Island want no revenge. Seeking revenge only causes more problems. The past is past and cannot be undone. It is time to move foward into the future. History shows us the way.

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      • Turtle Island, eh? So you’re a Canuck and well-off compared to the natives south of the border. No honest, what they need, what most native peoples need is help and more fairness and more chances of self-govern, not one silly day a year. For example, how would you think about the Canadian gov handing you your island back to do with it as you fancy? Tha

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        • …t would be a starting point. No? But as long as ppl like Trump are forcefully laying pipelines through native land, I guess a festive day of song and dance isn’t the answer.

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        • What do you mean by well-off? That I live well above the poverty line? Dream on, Orca. Or that I live free from stigma? Only because my skin is a darker white, but not red. That I have had some kind of privilege my cousins in the States don’t have. There is no privilege. Our Canadian jails are 40% full of indigenous people while we make up about 3% of the population. We are looked down upon, spat uopn, and subjected to the same kind of profiling that blacks in America are subjected to. How does that become well-off?
          For all the white people to be kicked off Turtle Island? What kind f drugs are you on?
          I have no idea what you are even trying to suggest, but I for one do not appreciate it. We are fighting back the only way we know how, peacefully, making one gain at a time. Going backwards every third step. We are not giving in to the Ancient Greek-based society, but we are carving our niche in the social fabric of a nation. We have been demanding respect for centuries, and we are finally starting to get it. Starting!
          Yes, there is still a lot of resistance, but we are inexorable. We never give up.

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          • No. With well-off I meant that the Canadian gvt is treating you guys better than the Americans treat their own natives. I’m on no way an expert on that topic But this is what I’ve heard. Wasn’t there even some tribes fleeing across the border into Canada, running from the US army, sometimes in the 1880’s or so?

            ” What kind f drugs are you on?”
            Believe it or not, I’m not smoking or drinking.

            “I have no idea what you are even trying to suggest, but I for one do not appreciate it. ”
            Suggest? Nothing. It’s not my job and not my concern. But I find a commemorative day a bit silly. you are not an extinct people but very much alive, so the gvt should do something. Something more than inventing an indigenous day. That’s all I said.

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              • Patience isn’t my strong suit. Weird for a very experienced yogini, ikr? And why wouldn’t I believe unbiased ethnographic reference books?

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                • You might think they are unbiased, but most of them are! It is easy to say I am not biased against Trump, but that does not make it true. You need to be able to read between the lines, and that is not possible when you have no experience yourself. Come live on a reserve for a year, and then tell me the “self-named experts” are unbiased.

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    • Differing opinions don’t cause harm, but cruelty can. Frankly, I don’t need it right now. What would you have me do … go bring the dead back to life??? Impale myself on a stake to atone for the lives taken by my ancestors? Or just jump off a bridge because I am such a huge hypocrite?

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      • Nooooo! Jill!!! Don’t do that! 😮

        But the native people have problems, ongoing problems since the day they were put away and stored in reservations. There’s much to do, actually show action and change laws and right some wrongs. A day per year is fine for nostalgic reasons, but you’re not dealing with an extinct people but actual living people.

        BTW I never said you’re a hypocrite but the whole idea of this day is hypocritical. If this day would be used as a starting point for concerted action, ok. But as it is it’s nothing but a show.

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        • As my great leader Vladimir Putin said so wisely: “He who doesn’t miss the old wild west has no soul, he who wants to have it back has no brain.”

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        • In that, you are right … there is much that needs to be done to upend the inequalities in this country for Indigenous People, Blacks, and other minority groups. Sadly, the racism and bigotry that have caused those inequalities is on the rise of late, thanks in part to certain elements here promoting such things as “white replacement theory” that scares those lily-white hypocrites and causes them to fear “other”. Yes, I wish this day were a starting point for action, and perhaps in some small ways it is.

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      • Nobody can repair what has happened in the past and responsibility should not fall on any living person or any recent governments. If we were to go back further in time to the Neanderthals our closest ancient human relatives who lived between about 130,000 and 40,000 years ago well before the Indians, Aboriginals, the Maori and Celtic people including every other indigenous peoples on all lands the chances are they came either by boat from another country or across land and wiped out the original Neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis inhabitants who are our common ancestor or any other indigenous caveman type people for land ownership anyway. Humans will be humans even back then, therefore the invasion of these lands done by cave dwellers and early humans over thousands of years is exactly the same and has continued until technologically advanced and numerically superior invaders turned up, unlike Putin who is actually an inferior invader.

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            • I’m not so sure I’m much of an American anymore. In fact, I’m told that I’m not when the politicians tell us that to be American, one must be white, straight, and Christian. And as re communism … I’m not a communist, but definitely lean toward socialism. And … I can HOWL!!!! I’ve already got the wolf howl down pat … ARRRROOOOOOOOO 🐺

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        • “unlike Putin who is actually an inferior invader.”
          Yes, so inferior he’s not an invader at all. Putin has no use for the Ukraine other than as a buffer zone between Russia and NATO. Ukraine failed in that aspect, became kinda hostile in itself. And since nobody on the Ukrainian side is allowed to negotiate and they won’t stop shelling the Donbass, he’s now forced by NATO to exceed his original plan of liberating the Donbass and has to go further.

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          • Yes Putin is inferior, his intention is to be a great Russian leader of the same stature as Stalin by trying to recover what was the the former USSR by invading Ukraine was poorly planed and executed. As with Stalin, death and destruction is only a sacrifice compared to the pride and the power this man Putin strives for. As for NATO it is laughable to think they posed any threat to Russia through Ukraine, after all Putin marched into Crimea without much of a problem.

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    • Exactly! If you burn your finger on the hot stove burner and then you erase that memory, how likely is it that you will repeat that mistake? Those who would whitewash our history are fools, but dangerous fools, since they are adept at convincing people of their lies.

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  6. T he wrongs that were visited on the Native Americans can never be righted. But they cannot be brushed under a carpet and ignored, they must be taught in schools and the trust of the tribes regained. Statues of some of the Indian Chiefs who made a difference with their conservation messages, and learning to live with the land. Statues to some of the Native American heroes from the World Wars would show that the country is proud of them as well as their own tribespeople.
    Cwtch

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    • Just a suggestion, David, but we are not tribes, we are nations. While we shared our lands as best we could, we were separate peoples while all being one people. Tribes is a colonial word. Like calling us Indians, or our women aquaws, there are words that we now find insulting. Tribes is one of them. We are not now and never were tiny groups of uncivilized people.

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      • Apologies Rawgod. I meant no disrespect.. I’m a big fan of the Indigenous Nations interconnections even if not of the raids on each other to capture those who would become slaves. who may one day be absorbed into their new Nations. Even in that I found you achieved a remarkable degree of civilisation still not achieved by the new Americans to your continent where slaves were bought and remained slaves and lesser peoples from birth.
        HUGS

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        • I know you meant no disrespect, David. But I do ask that you consider that colonialist words still hurt. If ever the races are going to heal, we all have to learn to respect the “other!”

          As for the “slave captures” of pre-colonial times, they were a way of keeping the blood diverse. We may not have had the science, per se, but we knew inbreeding was not good for anyone.

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      • I’ve heard the smaller groups, ~ 3 – 4 families, ~ 20 tipis are called ‘bands’. They are an individual group of people but belonging to a nation. Like Dakota nation – Oglala tribe – Sons of Rawgod band. Is that kinda correct?

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        • I have no idea what movies you have been watching or what books you have been reading, but we do not live in tipis anymore. That is far back in our history. White people live in cities, in towns, in villages, and in hamlets. Or alone, on farms or whatever.
          We the Original Human Inhabitants of Turtle Island had similar population centers, relative to the total population of Turtle Island, which we did not bother to count.
          While we had names for our nations, it was white men who tried to describe up as being in tribes, or bands, or whatever. We were just people, living as we felt fitted our needs, changing as needed, koving as necessary, all sharing the same lands. Boundaries were not stationary, as other bations tried to own certain lands. Ours were flexible. There was enough land for everyone. Nobody hsd to own anything. In the western plains, where I would have lived had the white man not come, I would have followed the buffalo, taking only what we needed to live on, no more.
          But that life is no longer pisdible. White men like to think they can own the land. Only Mother Nature owns the land. No one else.

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          • I know that you don’t live in tipis anymore. I was asking about the historic setup, and was referring to the American Indians, mostly the western prairie people, Dakota and similar. And in the few novels I read they were living in clan-like structures, more like hunting parties based on family, which then belonged to a bigger tribe, which belonged to a nation.
            I can imagine that life on a very northern island was much different from the buffalo hunting people south of the border.
            What I know for sure is that there were violent disputes amongst the people of the plains. Not about land but very well about hunting grounds.

            Please correct me if I’m wrong.

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            • Oh, the last movies I’ve watched about/with Indians were Dances with Wolves, Windtalkers, Flags of Our Fathers, Wind River, and just a few weeks ago, Prey. No idea how realistic any of those were. I’ve heard Dances was ethnically painstakingly correct but interpreted the Dakotas’ characters completely wrong. Windtalkers losely based on reality but obvlsy bullshit and Eastwood’s Flags very realistic.

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            • There were battles, yes, probably a few wars over the ages, but nothing like what happened in Europe. But that is not the point. The history of the Americas,, especially North America, csnnot be spoken of in English words.
              To begin, Tugtle Island is NOT some little island up north. Turtle Island is the Original Human Inhabitants name for all of North America, probably including Central snd South America. Turtle Island can best be interpreted or defined as the land under our feet upon which we live. It is like calling the pkanet we live on Earth. See the similarity? Land = Earth = soil = surface of the planet. Turtle Island was, and still is,our world, our home. At one time it was shsred by just one people, We the People. Now it is shared by many people, prople who have given it snother name, but names are meaningless. They cannot define the land on which we walk.
              Next, get the word Indian out of your vocabulary unless you are talking of people from India! Just because Cristofo Columbo called us by that label does not make it so. It is the first of many crimes committed upon my people, calling them by some label that bears no existence in reality. Colombo was just a man, same as any one of us. He screwed up, albeit intentionally. But we will not be defined by his assininity! We are OHITI, the Original Human Inhanitants of Turtle Island! And we are people, just like Europeans or Asians. We are sll humans. That is the only label any of us need!
              All the books you read, or movies you see, they are either written, by non-OHITI, or influenced by them. Do not think they can give you our history.
              My ancestors are not bound by written history ss are your ancestors. We live and lived by ideas unexpressible in European languages. Accept that, even if you cannot understand it.
              Except for the Olympics, which at first were confined to only citizens of Greek city states, there were no celebrations in Europe attended by people of every European nation. We held great celebrations on a continuous basis, within nations, and comprising many nations at a time. We made agreements, you would call them treaties, between nations, peacefully and in joy. We worked together to share the bounty of the land as best we could. But our leaders could not foresee problems over small hunting gtounds, do battles were fought, but not st the crlebrations, or pow-wows. There were mostly battles between small groups,, quickly over, never leading to war between nations. Wars had other causes, but I have no time toget into them right now.
              Just lnow, Orca, we are trying to discuss apples and otters. There are no real similatities, but langusge does not portray that. Language wants to make all things similar. What you are trying cannot be done.

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              • “There were battles, yes, probably a few wars over the ages, but nothing like what happened in Europe.”
                Of course not. Less people, less stakes, less technology.

                “Tugtle Island is NOT some little island up north.”
                Oh sorry, I thought you meant the Turtle Island we know today as a Canadian island on the Pacific coast. Doesn’t matter much, I just wanted to point out that there are cultural differences between the Canadian First People and Native Americans.

                “get the word Indian out of your vocabulary”
                No. Everybody knows what I’m talking about, and it wasn’t my invention to call the Natives of America Indians but it’s the common use … if we want it or not.

                Little remark here: In my original language, German, we call people from India ‘Inder’, American natives ‘Indianer’. So no confusion. Anyway, why do you Anglophiles call us ‘Germans’ when actually we’re ‘Teutons’? More specific ‘Guelphs’, ‘Frisians’ and ‘Anglo-Saxons’ were I come from in northern Deutschland. ‘Germans’ and ‘Alemans’ were located more to the south.

                Buuut anyway, how do you suppose did Sitting Bull organize 6,000 warriors of multiple nations and tribes at Little Bighorn, if there wasn’t some kind of structure in their “society”?

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                • SittingBull did not organize anything. He just happened to be the best tactician available. Each nation decided on their own to send or not send warriors to the battle. SB offered a plan, many chose to follow it. Not everyone did. Some went home before the battle. History will not tell you that And what did it gain our side to win that battle? By killing every soldier, and ta,8ng no prisoners, it just pissed the whites off even more. A good organizer looks beyond one battle to seeing how to win a war. Sitting Bull was a miserable failure!

                  I agree with you, whether you beieve it or not, the English do make a mockery of the names of other nations and people. When did you every read me calling the peop.e of Deuschland Germans. But, having said that, I have never heard anyone calling you Teutons. Does that go for all citizens of Deuschland?

                  So, if you refuse to stop using the word Indian, whether it has a label in front of it not, then you need never address me again. All Original Human Inhabitants of Turtle Island are related in history. There is no difference between Canadian, American, or Mexican Indigenous People. You call one of us by that label, you are call8ng all of us by that label. It would be the equivalent of me calling you a German. Just because others do it does not mean you have to be as ignorant as everyone else. Do you not have a ind of your own,or a heart of your own. Use them. If you cannot honour my request, I will not converse with you anymore!

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    • This is so true. No, we cannot go back and undo what was done, but the best way to honour those who we wronged is to ensure that we NEVER make the same mistakes again. And the only way to do that is to teach the reality, teach future generations what was done, how wrong it was, and why it was wrong. Sadly, I fear we are increasingly failing at doing that. Sigh.
      Cwtch

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      • “ensure that we NEVER make the same mistakes again.”
        Hm … Germany siding with the West, supporting Ukraine against Russia is exactly that: They are repeating their historical failure for the 3rd time right now. 😦

        And Biden is a happy chappie. All the objectives of his plan accomplished:
        – keep Russia out of Europe
        – keep Germany down
        – de-industrialize Europe
        – create giant profits for the military industrial complex.

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        • Um … Orca? Germany is part of the European Union, therefore part of the West. And … did you see the pictures today of bombed out Ukrainian buildings … homes, a bus depot, I believe a school … and more? Putin ordered those, not Germany, not the U.S. That, to me, says it all. Somewhere along the line, Vladimir Putin gave away his humanity.

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