A Message from the United Confederation of Taíno People:
Why Celebrate Columbus Day? Please Share & Help Educate
We recently attended the grand opening of the Smithsonian National
Museum of the Native American Indian with an indigenous people's organization
we belong to, The United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP). After
the parade we were milling about and the president of our group, Roberto Múcaro
Borrero, was being interviewed by a young reporter who was asking about our
people, the Taíno. Múcaro mentioned that the Taíno were
the first to encounter Europeans, Columbus to be exact. The reporter then
asked, "and when was that?"... I just looked at him and rolled my
eyes... I wanted to scream "1492, you big dummy!". And, it occurred
to me those of us who want this holiday removed, know a heck of a lot more
about it than the people who celebrate it. Even as we talked to people of
other nations, I became aware that MOST people don't seem to know much about
Columbus at all.
If you ask most people what they do know about Columbus, the one thing most
will say is that Columbus discovered America. This is confusing to many people
because the United States of America is often referred to simply as "America"
which gives the impression that Columbus was here in the U.S. at some point,
which is incorrect. There are 39 countries in the Americas... not just the
U.S. Most people would also know (well, not the reporter), that Columbus sailed
in 1492... that he had 3 ships, the Nina, the Pinta & the Santa Maria...
some will know that he made 4 voyages to the New World. Some will say he set
out to prove the world was round. Most have an image of Columbus falling to
his knees & thanking God for safe passage and then planting his flag and
claiming the land for Spain. Most also know he was greeted by Natives, but
that pretty much sums up what most people know about Columbus.
The truth is that Columbus set sail in 1492 with the intention of finding
a shorter route to India. He promised the King & Queen of Spain that he
would bring them riches beyond belief and spices. Spices were highly valued
because with no refrigeration much of the food people ate at the time was
what we would consider today to be rotten. It was very important to the Queen
of Spain that he spread the Catholic religion to anyone he might encounter.
Columbus first sighted land and wound up in the Caribbean, landing near the
Bahamas. He sailed to other islands in the Caribbean as well, claiming and
re-naming them as he went along. His "claims" included making the
Natives subjects of the crown. He "took" some of the Native Taíno
people aboard his ships so they could show him where the gold could be found.
In one of his first entries in his journal, he said that the people were so
generous you had to see it to believe it. He also said that with 50 men and
his weapons, he could enslave the entire population and they could be made
to perform his will.
On Christmas morning, the Santa Maria drifted toward the shore and crashed
to pieces on rocks there. The Taíno helped him to retrieve every salvageable
item from the ship. This presented a problem to Columbus because he could
not fit the 39 sailors who had sailed aboard the Santa Maria onto his other
two, smaller ships. Columbus used the wood from the Santa Maria, built a fort
named La Navidad and left the 39 men behind with a promise to return.
When Columbus returned on his second voyage with 17 ships, 1,500 armed men
and the intention to colonize, he found his 39 sailors had been killed by
Caonabo, Casique of Maguana. Caonabo would not tolerate the treatment of the
Taíno at the hands of the sailors who were taking everything of value
they could get, and raping women and girls as young as nine. When Columbus
saw this, he set out to retaliate and it was war.
The natives were enslaved. Gold quotas were established and the people were
forced to mine for gold, those who failed to meet their quotas had their hands
chopped off and were left to bleed to death. People who resisted the invaders
were killed in despicable manner, some just for sport, starving dogs were
set upon them, they were roasted alive in groups of 13 representing the Savior
and the apostles.
It became apparent that the islands did not have the quantities of gold Columbus
had hoped for, and he needed to deliver something of value to the King &
Queen of Spain to repay them for their expenditures incurred in financing
his voyages. So, the entrepreneurial Columbus, rounded up 500 of the biggest
and strongest Taíno, stuffed them into the stinking holds of his ship,
and returned to Spain where they were sold at the slave market in Seville.
Over half died enroute and their bodies were thrown overboard. Other explorer's
accounts of the times said it was possible to find your way to the Indies
by following the trail of bodies in the water. Columbus was the first slave
trader in the Americas.
On his third voyage, word of his abuses reached the King & Queen of Spain
and they sent out a new governor for the islands and an order that Columbus
be arrested, which he was. He was returned to Spain in chains....a truth that
is glossed over in our history books.
He lived to make another trip to the Indies and Venezuela, always believing
he had found India (which is why he called the people there Indians, a mistake
that has caused 500 years of confusion).
What Columbus did do was chart a path across the ocean that opened up exploration
to other greedy explorers like himself... Columbus' harsh treatment of the
Taíno nearly extinguished their once-thriving populace. On his heels
came Hernando Cortez, who annihilated the Aztec. Then along came Pizarro,
who had previously sailed with Columbus, and the magnificent Inca population
was also decimated.
The word "discovery" is a misnomer as there were already people
in the "New World" who had been there since time immemorial... didn't
they discover it? The Age of Discovery was a period of grotesque genocide
against Native peoples. The true legacy of Columbus is one of genocide and
slavery, yet the federal government of the United States of America (a place
Columbus never even set foot) honors him with a holiday. A fact unknown to
most people is that Columbus Day is the ONLY disputed federal holiday with
17 states refuses to acknowledge, celebrate and/or recognize it.
Please think about these truths and join us in the effort to rid our country
of this offensive holiday once and for all and replace it with a long overdue
holiday for the Native peoples of this land.*This information was written
and compiled by E. Garcia, UCTP Liaison Officer for the State of Washington.
For more resources and educational materials on Caribbean Indigenous Peoples
and the Columbus Legacy, please visit the website of the United Confederation
of Taíno People (UCTP) at http://www.uctp.org/
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