How will you honor the Indeniginous people of your land?

buy telling my son that christopher columbus didn't discover a land that was already inhabited

i'm part native american and i think my bf is going to pillage me tonight in celebration.

Anxiety said:

Anxiety said:

EEEEEWWWWW!!!!!

althom said:

I think that a banning may be in order.

bkw said:

I'm thinking of calling the UN!

for us!

I was telling people all day about what Columbus REALLY did...

The Discovery of America Brings
Annihilation

When Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola, the estimates for the number of Native Americans were astronomical in comparison to what the number is today. Estimates place 800 separate nations, with one-hundred fifty language families and 1,500 to 2,000 dialects. Population studies show between seventy-five to one-hundred forty-five million inhabitants in North and South America. By 1890, the number in North America had been reduced to 250,000. Total tribes have been annihilated. (18). While ecologists lament the extinction of the dodo bird and the senseless slaughter of whales, what is this in comparison to the total eradication of a race of men created in the image of God?

Sizing up the weapons of the natives Columbus noted, "The people of this island and of all the other islands which I have found and seen . . . have no iron or steel weapons, nor are they capable of using them, although they are well-built people of handsome stature, because they are wondrous timid." Going on to describe the natives he says, "They are so artless and free with all they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts; and whether the thing be of value or small price, at once they are content with whatever little thing of whatever kind may be given them." (18). With no weapons to fight ironclad soldiers who came brandishing swords and guns led by trained man-eating dogs, the Spanish met little resistance from these docile naked people. (1)

When the Spaniards came to North America, Europe had already been ravaged with smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, diphtheria, influenza, yellow fever, typhoid, syphilis, tuberculosis and a host of other plagues. But the Americas had been isolated from these great ravages. When the sailing ships appeared on the horizon, they came not only to plunder but to spread their diseases as well. While it is not documentable that the Spanish deliberately spread diseases, it is well documented that they were merciless with the natives. Whole nations were destroyed by the invaders and their European plagues. Estimates nearing a 98% death rate from diseases alone are not uncommon. One island group that demonstrates the horrendous extent of the slaying was the Dominican Republic and Haitian islands named Hispaniola by Columbus.


http://www.wealth4freedom...ndian1.htm

althom said:

don't hate.

applekisses said:

these sort of history lessons just arent said loudly enough!
this sort of recognition day must mean inconsequential nonesense to the slaughtered ancestors of the original American Native Indian

Janfriend said:

I think you spelled Indigo wrong.

I don't think we should judge people by their color.

I don't think the term is used in the U.S., but I am what is called Metis. The short explanation is that we are mixed Native and European blood. The long explanation is that the term Metis originally referred to a child produced from a Native/French or Scottish mixed marriage. Later, it was expanded to include Native/ European combinations. People who, like myself, are Native/French/Scottish are called Metis -with a capital "M". Anyone who falls under the newer definition is metis with a lower case "m".


I often wonder though, If Europeans had never come to North America -who would I have been? A middle class European girl, (I have English, Scottish, French, and German ancestors) or a Chief's daughter? (my great great great grandfather was Chief Poundmaker, an important figure in Canadian history.)

purpletiger said:

Editing a school book to hide the gory details doesn't change history.

Everyone should explore the cultures of America's past and notice the widespread influence.

We weren't the first, but we like to think it.