Being a descendant from Cherokees who had to hide out in the Great Smoky Mountains and as a property owner in the Cherokee Nation, I want to wish each and everyone a Happy Indigenous People’s Day.
It is not Columbus Day. I remember a time when this day was nothing. The schools where I grew up, which weren’t far from New Echota, were still in school. New Echota was the former capital of the Cherokee Nation before the removal of all Indigenous Native Americans from the southeastern part of the country.
In actuality, Columbus Day only formed out of a response to anti-Italian immigrants protests and violence. In 1892, 11 Italian-Americans were lynched in New Orleans. The irony of people whose ancestors were immigrants themselves angry at other immigrants was lost on many. In the 1930s, the Knights of Columbus pushed for a more widespread recognition to drum up patriotic support.
However since then, a lot of things people thought were true have been proven wrong. Everyone believed the Earth was round not just Columbus. The land that would be later called the North America continent was very well populated and civilized. Columbus only step foot on the islands of Guanahani in the Bahamas (now called San Salvador Island) and Hispaniola which is currently the countries of Haiti and the Domincian Republic. He never step foot on what is present day United States.
He was not a hero but a cruel man enslaving the Taino people of the area and reports of brutality were so much that he was arrested in 1500 and sent back to Spain in chains. Of course the schools didn’t teach this because it’s way too gruesome but it doesn’t turn him into the white savior myth that was being pushed.
History isn’t always easy and pleasant. Even though many died on the Trail of Tears, the wealthy Cherokees themselves owned enslaved people from Africa. Yes, it’s wrong. It shouldn’t have happened but Indigenous people were higher in society than black people. At least Indigenous people could marry white people.
For centuries, people didn’t know elephants existed until Hannibal marched them toward Alexander the Great. And even more centuries after that, gorillas were considered a myth. A lot of people couldn’t read so they relied on stories told second or third hand. And sometimes the details got changed or omitted.
Step one is admitting things were wrong. Step two is trying to right the wrong.
