What did the traffic light say to the car? “Don’t look now. I’m changing!”
Change is cumbersome even if you have a traffic-light mentality of its-green-for-MY-car.
According to https://renamecolumbusday.org/ over 200 cities and 29 states have renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Some states acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ Day in terms of a proclamation; others celebrate it as federal holiday. Name changes include “Native American Day” in South Dakota, “Columbus Day + American Heritage Day” in Alabama, and “Discovery Day” in Hawaii.
Regarding Christoper Columbus, he reportedly never reached the North America continent; on October 12, 1492, Columbus reached an island that today is part of the British Bahamas. Believing his discovery was a grand route to India, he called the people he met “Indians.” Columbus was not the first European “discovery” explorer to cross the Atlantic successfully, as Vikings reportedly kept a short-lived second home in Newfoundland in the 11th century…so our grade school stories about Columbus were fake news? A factual Founding Father, Thomas Paine, wisely captured such disparities as the Columbus distortion in his 1776 Common Sense pamphlet: “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
While some have this opinion, “You’re trying to change history – you’re confusing our grandchildren,” others want to rename the second Monday in October “Italian Heritage Day.” Still others would like to take a vote on whether to rename Columbus Day. With a current divided country, it could end up being a 50/50 election.
Ever curious about people’s values and how they think about a topic, I did an informal survey over the weekend. I asked individuals to vote for their naming preference. More people favored Indigenous People’s Day, although combo-naming was one person’s opinion in being inclusive and honoring Italian heritage. A tongue-in-cheek response likely speaks for many: “I call it a day off work.”
Indigenous People’s Day has enjoyed federal recognition since 2021, with the Biden administration proclaiming the second Monday in October “a day in honor of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shaping this Nation.” Wording in the 2024 Indigenous Peoples’ Day presidential proclamation is critical language for today: “…we recognize that it is hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and to change course and move forward, but together, nothing is beyond our capacity.”
Discrimination continues to hamper needed changes. Why do we recall the names of the three ships of the Columbus expedition decades later? Schools may teach the ship names (the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, in case you forgot), but we do not represent Native American names in our current entertainment industry. Less than 1% of Native Americans work in this field.
Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz
333. What is your vote for naming the second Monday in October?
334. Beyond saying the names of the early people who settled our city lands at community gatherings, how might we correct cultural narratives about Indigenous people?
Pearls of Peace: A Family Psychologist’s Circle-of-Life Blog 