History
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
What is the history of Indigenous Peoples' Day?
In 1965, the United Nations developed a Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The definition for "racial discrimination" used was "any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."
Indigenous Peoples Day was first proposed in 1977 by a delegation of Native Nations to the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, sponsored by the United Nations.In the 1990s, the City of Berkeley, California and the State of South Dakota were the first to make the change from celebrating Columbus Day to celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day. Since that time, nearly thirty cities or jurisdictions as well as two other States (Alaska and Vermont) have recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day (Sample Resolutions from the cities of Anchorage, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Albuquerque, New Mexico are enclosed).
Why not continue to celebrate Columbus Day?
Scholars estimate that there were approximately 25 million indigenous peoples in the Americas between 14,000-45,000 prior to the landing of Christopher Columbus. Contrary to popular belief Columbus did not "discover" an America that "began" with the arrival of European traders and settlers, nor did he arrive in what we now call the United States. Columbus' ship went off course landing on the island of Hispañola in the area we currently know as modem Haiti. The arrival of Columbus and his men, through initial and subsequent travels, led to the spread of deadly diseases, forced assimilation, warfare, and massacres of native populations. His men wrote of their work as one of killing, destroying, ravaging, and maiming. Columbus' offenses were so egregious that he returned to Europe at one point in chains, where he was tried for crimes against humanity but later pardoned.
Why Should You Support Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
from the Cleveland American Indian Movement
Forty years ago, indigenous delegates to the United Nations asked that member countries adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day to replace Columbus Day in October, due to Christopher Columbus's role in both Persecuting the original inhabitants of the island he claimed and administered for Spain in 1492, as well as being the "father" of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
We hope you too will support this effort by learning and sharing the truth about Christopher Columbus:
1. Before Columbus came to this hemisphere in 1492, he regularly sailed the coast of West Africa stealing people for the Portuguese slave trade. When he came to this hemisphere, he continued that behavior.
2. In his role as Governor, Columbus is directly responsible for the torture, rape, mutilation, murder and enslavement of men, women and children on the island of modem-day Haiti. In his lust for gold, he is indirectly responsible for the brutality practiced against hundreds of millions of people on three continents and two hemispheres.
3. At a time of the brutal "Spanish Inquisition", Christopher Columbus was arrested for "Crimes against Humanity" and returned to Spain in chains for the atrocities he committed against the people of Hispañola (the island of modem-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
4. In only 22 years after his landfall on Hispañola, some 2.4 million people (98% of the original population) had been exterminated by enslavement in gold mines, mutilation, murder, disease and suicide.
5. In 1502, less than 10 years after Columbus's first landfall, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade begins as the first people from West Africa arrive to slave in the gold mines of Hispañola as replacements for the dwindling native population. Indigenous Peoples' Day is designed to show solidarity with the native peoples of the Americas and Africa by telling the truth about Christopher Columbus and the legacy of his choices as they continue to impact People of Color worldwide.
We hope you will become involved with this international movement.
How you can help:
Educate your local City Council and ask they adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Educate your local School Board and demand they tell the truth about Christopher Columbus.
Educate your local state representative and ask that they support Indigenous Peoples' Day at the state level.