Subject: FYI: Columbus Day Questions Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 11:23:27 -0500 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD0202D5BCD2@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Giamati, Claudia M." <GIAMATCM@uwec.edu>
Some interesting protests FYI:
Dr. Claudia Giamati
Dept. of Mathematics,
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Co-Conspirator to make the world a better place
________________________________
From: Nicole Bowman [mailto:nbowman@nbowmanconsulting.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 3:28 PM
To: IPA Listserve; LSJ (Leaders for Social Justice)
Cc: Wipk-12; Cc: Wipk-12; Win@wisind. Net; mderr@cesa6.k12.wi.us
Subject: Columbus Day Questions
This is from a University of WI Librarian regarding questions to ask the
educational establishment as they embark upon Columbus Day (and some are
unfortunately still celebrating it)....
From: Jacqui-Bill <mailto:cadotte@cheqnet.net>
To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@sa-4.airstreamcomm.net
<mailto:%22Undisclosed-Recipient:;%22@sa-4.airstreamcomm.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 1:35 PM
Subject: Fw: Excellent Questions for Educators on Columbus Day
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:12 PM
Subject: Excellent Questions for Educators on Columbus Day
A message from the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP)
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE COLUMBUS DAY?
What is the meaning of this day to each of us, or is there any meaning
at all?
Questions To Ponder As Columbus Day nears
1. Columbus sailed into the Caribbean and never even set foot in what
is now known as the United States. So, why do we, in the United States,
give him one of our 8 Federal holidays?
2. Why would Columbus be given credit for "discovering" the Americas
anyway, when we all know those lands were already inhabited and had been
for thousands of years? Didn't the inhabitants of those lands discover
them? Look at any map of the US and see the many, many, many states,
cities and towns that all bear the Native American names of people and
peoples who once populated those regions: Illinois, Oklahoma, Cheyene,
Nantuckett, Milwaukee, Yuma, Omaha, Witchita, Tallahassee, Mississippi,
Muskogee, Tennessee, Allegheny, Missouri, Kentucky, Huron, Tuscalloosa
and on and on and on......
3. Knowing that Native Americans were already here, and Columbus never
was here, why does anyone go along with the myth that "Columbus
Discovered America", when we all know it is not true?
4. Why aren't we taught the whole truth about Columbus' actions and the
devastating consequences of those actions? Why are we only told about
Columbus, who as a boy who always wanted to sail and then when he got
older Spain provided him three ships & he sailed across the ocean and
DISCOVERED A NEW WORLD! (where millions of Taino had lived for thousands
of years and which we now call the Caribbean). Why are we only taught
about that FIRST voyage, and not the other 3 voyages, when all hell
broke loose? Why aren't we taught about how on the second voyage, unlike
the first when Columbus only had 3 small old ships, Columbus was given
17 large ships and 1,500 armed men eagerly signed up for the chance to
go to the "New World" with hopes of getting rich quick on the gold to be
found there? Also, why aren't we taught about the greed and brutality of
the Spaniards against the Taino (who have been remembered as "naked
savages" in our history books, if at all), and how the Taino were
murdered and enslaved on that second voyage? Why are we not taught about
the third voyage & how when King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain
heard about Columbus' actions in the "New World" he was sent back to
Spain in chains to stand trial for his crimes, was convicted and
stripped of his titles? Or, how the Spaniards tricked 80 of the Taino
leaders into a hut and burned them alive? Isn't to omit the ugly part of
the truth considered LYING BY OMISSION? Then, that is what our schools
are doing when they only teach about the first voyage, they are lying by
omission to our students, and we as a improperly educated country have a
holiday for an evil, greedy, slave-trading, murderer.
5. Some people say he is worthy of the honor of a holiday for his
nautical genius, but the Vikings sailed across the ocean to North
America 500 years before, Marco Polo sailed to China & India 300 years
prior and the Chinese set foot upon the very shores that Columbus did 71
years prior to the arrival of Columbus, the difference being, Columbus
"claimed" the land and cites the Papal Bulls with giving him the
authority to do so if no one disputes the action, and Columbus according
to his journal, was careful to add that no one disputed it at the time,
while admitting at the same time that they could not understand each
other, so how could they be expected to understand what his
flag-planting and pronunciations meant?
6. Many people will argue that Columbus brought Western Civilization to
what is now known as the United States, and that is the reason the US
bestows upon him the honor of a holiday. But how can we make that
correlation when Columbus, working for Spain, came in 1492 and the
European colonizers who came here TWO HUNDRED years later, came from
England? If Columbus is worthy of being given credit for this
"achievement", wouldn't it have happened 200 years earlier and wouldn't
we all be speaking Spanish now as the countries he invaded do?
7. Some people will argue that Columbus Day is a day for recognition of
Italians, an Italian Pride Day. Are Italians more worthy of recognition
than other ethnic groups in this country we have proudly (?) nicknamed
"The Melting Pot"? I have heard Italians say that Germans have
Oktoberfest, the Irish have St. Patrick's Day and Mexicans have Cinco de
Mayo, but none of those are FEDERAL holidays. The only two ethnic groups
worthy of recognition for their contributions and sacrifice in this land
are those who were ALREADY HERE when the Europeans came and those who
the Europeans BROUGHT HERE IN CHAINS. All other ethnic groups came here
voluntarily. It was long overdue but African Americans finally got their
holiday - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January.... but Native
Americans still don't have a holiday (urge your congressmen and women to
support House Bill #167).
8. Some people think he is deserving of the honor because he proved the
world was round, but this was already a widely accepted belief by
educated people at the time as Ptolemy, the ancient astronomer and
geographer from Egypt, declared that the Earth was spherical in the
second century.
7. Why do 17 states refuse to recognize and/or celebrate Columbus Day?
8. Why do protestors gather and march at every Columbus Day Parade?
9. And, WHY is Columbus honored with one of our 8 federal holidays in
the US when,
a. He didn't "discover" us, or anything previously undiscovered or
uninhabited b. He never set foot on what is now U.S. soil. c. His legacy
is greed, theft, destruction, brutality, slave-trading and murder d. It
is offensive to Latin American, African American and Native Americans e.
Native Americans, who were here and are worthy of a holiday, still don't
have one
10.And why have the Taino people of the Caribbean and those in the US,
whose ancestors have paid such a huge price for the misfortune of being
"discovered", been erroneously declared extinct and are therefore denied
legal recognition by the government?
To learn more about the truth, read:
*In Defense of the Indians by Bartolome de las Casas * A People's
History by Howard Zinn * Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Louwen *
Rethinking Columbus by Bigelow and Peterson *The Voyages of Christopher
Columbus by Rex and Thea Rienits * The Log of Christopher Columbus by
Robert H. Fuson * The Journal of Columbus by Clarkson N. Potter * 1421,
The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies * America Discovers
Columbus by John Noble Wilford * The Conquest of Paradise by Kirkpatrick
Sale * The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean by Troy S. Floyd * The
Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov * Columbus & Cortez, Conquerors
for Christ by Eidsmoe.
_____________________________________________________________
Nicole R. Bowman (Mohican)
Owner, Bowman Performance Consulting, LLC
Federally Certified 8A & Native American Business
271 River Pine Drive, Shawano WI 54166
URL: www.nbowmanconsulting.com
Phone: 715-526-9240
Fax: 715-526-6028