Columbus and His Legacy
“Denial of nationhood and even of humanity followed quickly on the heels of contact, with wars of conquest always coming close behind. Columbus led the way into the holocaust of the Caribbean but his deed repeated itself and reproduced itself, first south and then north, over and over, regardless of initial greetings (mostly friendly) by Native peoples. Five hundred years have gone by; and to the Native peoples, the relative gains in scientific advancement do not make up for the horrendous loss of life, liberty and, particularly, the denial of the happy pursuit of self-determined cultures and societies.” – Editors, Indian Country Today
Cricket Gates, and her husband Anthony Fernandes.
Photo by Richard Gwin
“They have no weapons and are all naked without any skill in arms and are very cowardly so that a thousand would not challenge three… Thus they are useful to be commanded and to be made to labor and sow and to do everything else of which there is need and build towns and be taught to wear clothes and learn our customs.” – Christopher Columbus
Plus…
“Columbus did not discover the Western Hemisphere (for Europe) at all. Leif Ericsson had done so 492 years earlier. Scientific carbon-dating of the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland has proven that the Vikings were there in the year A.D. 1000.” – James Reston Jr.
3 responses so far
The Melungeons were already fully integrated with the Native tribes in Appalachia by the time the Italians arrived, as well.
Its always been sadly fascinating to me to think back to the “premise” on which we celebrate the supposed “discover-ers of America”–a group of somewhat pious white men who initiate a kind of genocide. And what strikes me as even sadder is how this “tradition” continues to shape American history & even play out in our current era.
I just hope we don’t have a new wave of genocide approaching. It’s a scary time to be gay, or Pagan.