Julianne Jennings: Moving forward on Indigenous Peoples Day

In a series of recent interviews I had conducted in Italy, many Italians were surprised to hear Columbus was an Indian killer, and that Columbus Day was celebrated in America. They only know he “discovered the New World.” Stephania, who lives in one of the small communes outside of Montefalco asserts, “Ï guess the Indians were better off before he came.” The same sentiment was expressed by four individuals visiting from England stating, “We had no idea this history existed.” It’s apparent, America’s and Italy’s education system, as well as others, are engaged in erasing the memory of an entire race of people through distorted history— a systematic way of deceiving and lying to adults and children. Not only are individuals presented with biased history, but also subjected to an ever-growing culture of capitalism, in which commercialization of an ambiguous holiday merely pulls us away from facts and meaning.

For example, History books tell the story of only a few Native American women, mostly because of their assistance to white America’s myth-building identity. Everyone has heard the story of Pocahontas, the friendly Indian “princess” that saved the life of a white man and then became an example of a savage turned civilized back in England. Sacagawea, the Hidatsa woman who led Lewis and Clark through the rugged terrain of the Western United States, thus paving the way for the colonization of the West. The images of these women have done more detriment than good for the modern Native American woman. Images of the “good” Indian have served to propagate stereotypes that harm contemporary Native women’s progress and color others’ perceptions about us.

As we reflect on this tragic past and the burdens tribal communities bore in the years that followed, let us turn a new chapter by commemorating the many contributions American Indians have made to the American experience. On this 521th anniversary of Columbus's expedition to the West, let us press forward with renewed determination and spirit toward tomorrow's new frontiers in understanding a new time and space.