"Happy" Columbus Day

“Columbus Day is a celebration of mass murder, slavery, conquest, greed and the start of the holocaust of American Indians. Do not celebrate Columbus Day if you believe that genocide, racism, slavery, and the destruction of the earth is wrong.”

“Columbus Day
By Jimmie Durham, Cherokee

Copyright © 1998 Durham
All Rights Reserved


In school I was taught the names Columbus, Cortez, and Pizzaro and a dozen other filthy murderers. A bloodline all the way to General Miles, Daniel Boone and general Eisenhower.
No one mentioned the names Of even a few of the victims. But don't you remember Chaske, whose spine Was crushed so quickly by Mr. Pizzaro's boot? What words did he cry into the dust?

What was the familiar name Of that young girl who danced so gracefully That everyone in the village sang with her-- Before Cortez' sword hacked off her arms As she protested the burning of her sweetheart?

That young man's name was Many Deeds, And he had been a leader of a band of fighters Called the Redstick Hummingbirds, who slowed The march of Cortez' army with only a few Spears and stones which now lay still In the mountains and remember.

Greenrock Woman was the name Of that old lady who walked right up And spat in Columbus' face. We Must remember that, and remember Laughing Otter the Taino who tried to stop Columbus and who was taken away as a slave. We never saw him again.

In school I learned of heroic discoveries made by liars and crooks. The courage Of millions of sweet and true people Was not commemorated.

Let us then declare a holiday For ourselves, and make a parade that begins With Columbus' victims and continues Even to our grandchildren who will be named In their honor.

Because isn't it true that even the summer Grass here in this land whispers those names, And every creek has accepted the responsibility Of singing those names? And nothing can stop The wind from howling those names around The corners of the school.

Why else would the birds sing So much sweeter here than in other lands?”

“Nice way to stir things up, Violin.


But, while we are on the subject. IMHO, the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee should be required reading in school.”

“"I was born on October 12, a day during which many people prefer to celebrate the introduction of slavery into the new world, and syphillis into the old."

Aleister Crowley”

“I can't think of any race or nation of people that havn't been
screwed over. I prefer to honor
some of the great Italian people I
had the privilege to meet.”

“Yo, Tony sees dis, yer toast!”

“I have met many fine German people.

Celebrating Columbus Day is the moral equivalent of cheering on a parade honoring the Nazi's.”

“Well, don't forget to slander me on St. Patty's day.”

“Slander requires a lie. Look objectively at history and tell me who is lying.”

“"Slander requires a lie. Look objectively at history and tell me who is lying."
undead flesh eating Violin
02:52:22 PM
10/13/03


Ummm, what do politicians have to do with this?”

“I mean who else!

Damn lawyers.”

“History has allways been a catalog
war and greed for every civilization including the slave owning human worship sacrificing indians.”

“I hope you’re working today Mr. Undead.”

“Yes I am.

Right after work, I plan to throw red paint on the bust of Columbus in the park across the street.”

“Yeah right! Happy? I wanted to mail a package today but noooooooooooo, the Post Office people felt this second-rate holiday was more than sufficient reason to stay home and neglect their duties.”

“Gallileo, Da Vinci, Michaelangalo,
Marconi,
Mayor Guillani

And all Italian Americans who fought and died to help save the world

Wonder what you got planned for Jolly St. Nick.”

“Ferrari, Lamborghini, Moto Guzzi”

“None of who are responsible for the enslavement and death of millions of native Americans.”

“--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

""I was born on October 12, a day during which many people prefer to celebrate the introduction of slavery into the new world, and syphillis into the old."

Aleister Crowley"
pedxing
02:20:47 PM
10/13/03

slavery existed in the "new world" before Columbus got there. and there's mounting evidence that syphilis existed in Europe well before Columbus visited America.

representing the aboriginal peoples of North and South America as happy, peaceful, saintly creatures is inaccurate and does a disservice to the memory of their complicated and advanced cultures. they were no better and no worse than the Europeans who conquered them. they perpectuated their own massacres and horrors on their own neighbors. it's the sad history of mankind - ALL mankind, not just we nasty Europeans.”

“that said, i don't make any big deal out of Columbus Day. i certainly don't get to take the day off.”

“A cannolo (derivative of "canna," meaning "tube" or "cane") is a tubular shell, deep fried, then traditionally filled with ricotta cheese made from sheep's milk. Cannoli come to us from the island of Sicily, the land of scrumptious desserts, where they have been a staple since around the 9th century. They are believed to have been introduced by the Arabs who occupied the region during that time. Some believe that this delicacy dates back to before the time of Christ.

Today they are still made in pretty much the traditional way. However the sheep's milk has largely been replaced by bovine milk in the ricotta cheese, and cream fillings have long been popular. You'll even see the small finger-size cannoli in many Italian bakeries today.

Traditional giving required no less than one dozen cannoli in the gift package.”

“Well, I don't plan on being a sneak under the cover of darkness to deface a statue.”

“Without the Italians, we wouldn't have Riuniti.


I bet the folks at Boone's Farm just hate Columbus Day.”

“Ummm…

My whole point is that we don’t have holidays to celebrate mass-murderers (unless it is the second Monday in October).”

“did St. Patrick kill all the snakes in Ireland, or or did he just drive them out?

how many people did Columbus himself kill?”

“As many as 8 million Tainos were killed during his few years as viceroy.”

“thank you. did he order them killed? perhaps you can point us to a good, factual, non-emotional account of Columbus' misdeeds? your post has sparked my curiosity to know just exactly how reprehensible Columbus himself was.”

“I went to a restaurant in Naples,
Italy. It was in a cave and the memory of that meal will allways stay with me. A six course meal
with a shot of booze between each
course. Mangia!”

“You could start here.”

“how about this?

less dense, and without the Judaism angle.”

“I thought the plethora of footnotes in my link would be of help.”

“i appreciate the link, and found the essay to be mostly free of bias. what little there is was easy enough to see through. thank you for sharing that. much more informative than the poetic bit you cut & pasted above.”

“I read through both papers.
History is a sad journey.
Current History:
Cambodia 70's 8 million?
Bosnia-Serbia 2 million?
Africa 70's-90's 6 million ?

I used to read about the un reported conflicts around the
world 80's 90's. Hundreds of them
I couldn't read these reports any
more. It seemed like nobody really cared.”

“and then there was the lovely reign of Mr. Hussein. i wonder how many people were killed under him?”

“It's a MAD,MAD, MAD World!”

“"Look objectively at history..."
-ha!”

“Here Violin, you are forgiven..

Proclamation of Amnesty and Pardon Granted to All Persons of European Descent

Whereas, Europeans kept my forebears in bondage some three centuries toiling without pay,Whereas, Europeans ignored the human rights pledges of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution,Whereas, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments meant little more than empty words, Therefore, Americans of European ancestry are guilty of great crimes against my ancestors and their progeny.But, in the recognition Europeans themselves have been victims of various and sundry human rights violations to wit: the Norman Conquest, the Irish Potato Famine, Decline of the Hapsburg Dynasty, Napoleonic and Czarist adventurism, and gratuitous insults and speculations about the intelligence of Europeans of Polish descent,I, Walter E. Williams, do declare full and general amnesty and pardon to all persons of European ancestry, for both their own grievances, and those of their forebears, against my people.Therefore, from this day forward Americans of European ancestry can stand straight and proud knowing they are without guilt and thus obliged not to act like damn fools in their relationships with Americans of African ancestry.

Walter E. Williams, Gracious and Generous Grantor"”

“Celebrating Columbus Day is the moral equivalent of cheering on a parade honoring the Nazi's."
undead flesh eating Violin
02:43:16 PM
10/13/03

I have to disagree with you here Violin for several reasons.

Some of the same natives that were exterminated and put into slavery committed the same atrocities against other tribes before and during the expansion of western cultures. Many nations today came to be by using the same methods that you described above. Should we view this in a Darwinian context, or a moral context. You chose to argue the moral context. 400 years ago, slavery and the military tactics used are "barbaric" by modern standards, yet at the time, they were considered "moral" tactics. In contrast, if we view these measures by todays standards, we could argue that nuclear or smart technology tactics are just as barabic, yet many consider more "moral" because allegedly less lives are lost. In addition, in today's societies, non-westernized cultures use the same barbaric tactics that you mention in Africa, yet there is insignificant outcry to substantiate a moral claim from western cultures.

Finally, many of these native cultures were decimated by disease, which is not bound by morals. These diseases wiped out more natives than any wars or policies. Natives simply didn't have the immunity that Europeans possessed due to thousands of years of agricultural industrialization.

I don't celebrate Columbus Day becuse we'll never know who discovered America. All we know is that it wasn't Columbus. I think that is the intent of the holiday, and when you paint it as some sort of holocost, I think you are missing the point, and don't take into consideration human nature.”

“As a child I remember learning about Columbus and even at that age figured there was some embellishment going on. After all even my school books (and my mother)told me that my Norwegian kin rode (or rowed) over here in a glorified row boat long before Columbus.

People have been travelling the globe conquering, killing, etc., since the dawn of time. It's not right but it's human nature.
I'm not excusing Columbus, but neither am I excusing the horrible things done to other humans by people of all colors. This murder and mayhem thing is truly multi-cultural.

Perhaps we can change the name of the holiday some day, but for now ....take the day of and go backpacking.”

“Sheesh! With a woman.”

“Using the Treaty of Versailles. France went way beyond pay back for WW1.
After throwing out so much rape and oppression, France created the breeding ground for the Nazi
Party.
Apparently desconstruct scholars
can play mix and match anyway they
want.As long as it has a good Mc Demo rat jingle.”

“"Apparently desconstruct scholars
can play mix and match anyway they
want."

ElfScream
08:12:56 PM
10/13/03

Heck, that's simply history in general!”

“Tarb: I quoted Crowley for fun... he was famous for making extreme statements... often wrong. He thought October 12 should be celebrated as "Crowleymas day."”

“I do agree with the point that Tarb, BB and others are making though. If we are going to shed our simplistic romantic notions of Columbus and look at the grim things he helped bring about, it seems silly to substitute a romantic idealized notion of the tribes he displaced.

Some were innocent and pretty peaceful, others were blood thirsty and practiced human sacrifice.”

“no no no white men are evil dont you understand? christopher columbus was a republican addicted to oxycontin and he blew up the atlanta olympics......

urrrgghh its late im scrambling my threads its time to stop putting off bed”

“the "noble savage" is a myth. injuns are ppl too, and ppl suck.”

“So it's OK to celebrate a mass murderer and enslaver because his victims were less than perfect?”

“"Ferrari, Lamborghini, Moto Guzzi"
ElfScream
04:20:51 PM

Don't forget Ducati!”

“Ducati, I must have a hole in my
head! I even left out Mazerrati!”

“I guess it would be fair to call Columbus the prototypical Republican. The example that he set is still being followed today:


"In 1986 some members of the Skull and Bones Society contacted members of the Apache Nation, the San Carlos Apache specifically and told them the Skull and Bones Society had Geronimo’s skull on display.

The story was told how a written journal detailed the raid on the Chiricahua Apache’s grave at Fort Sill, Okla. And that Patriarch Bush led the dig. The society refers to older members as patriarchs and the Bush was President Bush’s grandfather Prescott Bush.

The alleged grave desecration took place in 1918, before federal or state laws were in place to protect such activity against American Indian burial sites. Today, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act applies to all funerary objects held by any organization that receives federal money. Other laws apply on the federal level against cemetery desecration and the Native American Religious Freedom Act of 1978 may apply in some cases, legal experts claim.

Ironically NAGPRA was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, a member of the Skull and Bones Society."

- indiancountry.com”