Why Indigenous Peoples’ Day should resonate with Black people
OPINION: David Love writes that the day of observance is one of remembrance to honor the ancestors and elevate the original people who walked this land.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is gradually replacing Columbus Day, and we as a culture are here for it. In fact, we have been for quite some time. This is a day of remembrance, a day to honor the ancestors and elevate the original people who walked this land.
It is only fitting — in this time of post-Floyd racial reckoning and a coming to terms with a shameful whitewashed American history and a legacy of genocide — that people renegotiate their relationship with America. This process includes a rejection of symbols and monuments to colonialism, theft, rape, plunder and mass murder.
This is likely why President Joe Biden recently reversed Trump-era environmental protection cuts of sacred Indigenous spaces and signed a proclamation marking the first time a president has acknowledged Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a national commemoration.
“Our country was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people — a promise that, despite the extraordinary progress we have made through the years, we have never fully lived up to,” Biden’s proclamation reads. “That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began.”
From its inception, Columbus Day has been problematic at best — a holiday in honor of white supremacy, to celebrate a man who “discovered” a land that had been inhabited by ancient civilizations for as long as 23,000 years. Columbus’ “discovery” brought on centuries of Indigenous genocide, African enslavement and global colonization. Let us talk frankly here. It was the holiday that made Italians white and truly American — after being regarded as an inferior race facing discrimination and even lynching — when there are many other Italians worthy of honor.
And let us remember the armed white vigilantes who guarded the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza in Philadelphia when Black folks and racial justice activists sought its removal. When armed white supremacist thugs are the last line of defense for Columbus, what more do you need to know about Columbus? As statues of Columbus, Confederate terrorists, enslavers and colonizers are being toppled and beheaded — from Boston, Massachusetts to Bristol, England, it is not enough to declare what we abhor. The question is, what do we wish to uphold, and who do we hope to uplift? What are we building and who are we supporting?
With over a dozen states and the District of Columbia celebrating the alternative to Columbus’ Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a perfect example of reclaiming history and centering the lives of those who are often rendered invisible.
And losing millions of lives, having your land dispossessed, your children kidnapped and placed in boarding schools designed to kill Indian language and culture — this is enough to render you invisible to the mainstream white society. After all, sports team mascots mocking Native people are still a thing, with the Washington Football Team changing its racially offensive name just last year after corporate sponsor FedEx demanded the change. Society behaves as if Indigenous people no longer exist, or as if they couldn’t care less.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a concept that should resonate with Black people. Black people are among Indigenous people in the Americas and around the world, and this is a long history. As the late Rutgers University scholar Ivan Van Sertima taught us, the African presence in the “New World” predates Columbus by centuries.
Honoring the culture and history of Indigenous people means honoring the ancestors. “One thing that makes Native Americans different from Whites is that most of us view our ancestors as close as our families today,” tweeted Native American lawyer Brett Chapman, whose relative Standing Bear was the first Native American to win civil rights in the U.S. “I see all the injustice done to my ancestors like Standing Bear and know that was something my family suffered. It’s more visceral for Natives.”
Chapman recalled what his great-great-great grandfather Chief White Eagle told an Alabama church of racist Southerners in 1883: “He said they were selfish, he wasn’t Christian and Native Americans don’t believe in Hell because Hell is in fact living in America with the Whites.”
But Indigenous People’s Day is more than just remembering history. Our very survival as a planet depends on following what the ancestors did as stewards of the land who protected the Earth for thousands upon thousands of years, until the white man depleted the land, the resources and people — all for profit.
Indigenous communities hold over half of the world’s land, with 5% of the world’s population protecting 80% of the world’s biodiversity. The communities have legal rights over only a small fraction of that land and are under threat. Community and Indigenous lands have lower deforestation rates and store a quarter of the world’s carbon stock, making these lands crucial to fighting climate change. And the knowledge that Indigenous people have gained over the centuries is helping us understand weather changes.
This is why we must welcome Indigenous Peoples’ Day. If we want to know where we are going, we must understand and honor the people who came before us, and on whose land we live.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove.
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"Kwa nini Siku ya Wenyeji wa Asili inapaswa kusikika na watu weusi? "" - David Love, mwandishi wa kitabu cha ""The Day of Indigenous Peoples"" anasema kuwa siku ya maadhimisho ni moja ya kumbukumbu ya kuwaheshimu mababu na kuinua watu wa asili ambao walitembea katika nchi hii." Siku ya Wenyeji wa Asili ni hatua kwa hatua kuchukua nafasi ya Siku ya Columbus, na sisi kama utamaduni ni hapa kwa ajili yake. Kwa kweli, tumekuwa hivyo kwa muda mrefu. Hii ni siku ya kukumbuka, siku ya kuwaheshimu mababu na kuwainua watu wa asili waliotembea katika nchi hii. Ni sahihi tu - katika wakati huu wa baada ya Floyd uhasama wa kikabila na kuja na masharti na a aibu whitewashed historia ya Marekani na urithi wa mauaji ya kimbari - kwamba watu renegotiate uhusiano wao na Marekani. Utaratibu huu unatia ndani kukataa alama na makaburi ya ukoloni, wizi, ubakaji, uporaji na mauaji ya wingi. "Hii ndiyo sababu ya Rais Joe Biden hivi karibuni kugeuza kupunguzwa kwa ulinzi wa mazingira wa enzi ya Trump ya nafasi takatifu za wenyeji na kusaini tangazo la kuashiria mara ya kwanza kwa rais kutambua ""Siku ya Watu wa Asili"" kama kumbukumbu ya kitaifa." "Nchi yetu ilizaliwa kwa ahadi ya usawa na fursa kwa watu wote, ahadi ambayo, licha ya maendeleo ya ajabu ambayo tumefanya kwa miaka mingi, hatujawahi kuishi kikamilifu, ""Tangazo la Biden likasoma." "Hiyo ni kweli hasa linapokuja suala la kutetea haki na heshima ya wenyeji ambao walikuwa hapa muda mrefu kabla ya ukoloni wa Amerika kuanza. ""Kuanzia mwanzo wake, Columbus Day imekuwa tatizo bora - likizo kwa heshima ya utawala mweupe, kusherehekea mtu ambaye ""aligundua"" nchi ambayo ilikuwa imekaliwa na ustaarabu wa kale kwa muda wa miaka 23,000." Ugunduzi wa Columbus ulileta karne za mauaji ya kimbari ya wenyeji, utumwa wa Kiafrika na ukoloni wa ulimwengu. Hebu tuzungumze waziwazi hapa. Ilikuwa ni likizo ambayo iliwafanya Waitaliano kuwa weupe na wa kweli wa Marekani <unk> baada ya kuonwa kama jamii ya chini inayokabili ubaguzi na hata kuuawa <unk> wakati kuna Waitaliano wengine wengi wanaostahili heshima. "Watu wazungu walioshika ulinzi wa sanamu ya Christopher Columbus katika uwanja wa Marconi Plaza huko Philadelphia, Marekani, walipokuwa wakipinga kuondolewa kwa sanamu hiyo.""" Wakati wapiganaji wa rangi nyeupe wenye silaha ni mstari wa mwisho wa ulinzi kwa Columbus, ni nini zaidi unahitaji kujua kuhusu Columbus? """Wakati sanamu za Columbus, magaidi wa Confederate, watumwa na wakoloni wanashushwa na kukatwa vichwa kutoka Boston, Massachusetts hadi Bristol, Uingereza, haitoshi kutangaza kile tunachokichukia." Swali ni, tunataka kuunga mkono nini, na tunatumaini kumwinua nani? Tunajenga nini na tunaunga mkono nani? Kwa zaidi ya majimbo kadhaa na Wilaya ya Columbia kusherehekea mbadala wa Columbus Day, Siku ya Wenyeji ni mfano kamili wa kurudisha historia na kuzingatia maisha ya wale ambao mara nyingi huonekana. Na kupoteza mamilioni ya maisha, kuwa na ardhi yako ikinyang'anywa, watoto wako kutekwa nyara na kuwekwa katika shule za bweni zilizobuniwa kuua lugha na utamaduni wa Kihindi - hii ni ya kutosha kukufanya usionekane kwa jamii kuu ya wazungu. Mashabiki wa timu ya mpira wa miguu ya Washington, D.C. wamebadilisha jina la timu hiyo baada ya kampuni ya FedEx kuitaka. Jamii hujiendesha kana kwamba Wenyeji wa Asili hawapo tena, au kana kwamba hawawezi kujali kidogo. Siku ya Watu wa Asili ni dhana ambayo inapaswa kusikika na watu weusi. Watu weusi ni miongoni mwa watu wa asili katika Amerika na duniani kote, na hii ni historia ndefu. Kama vile mwanasayansi wa zamani wa Chuo Kikuu cha Rutgers Ivan Van Sertima alivyotufundisha, uwepo wa Waafrika katika "Ulimwengu Mpya" ulitangulia Columbus kwa karne nyingi. Kuheshimu utamaduni na historia ya Wenyeji wa Asili humaanisha kuheshimu mababu. "Kitu kimoja kinachowatofautisha Wamarekani wa asili na Wazungu ni kwamba wengi wetu tunawaona mababu zetu kama familia zetu za leo,"" alisema mwanasheria wa Wamarekani wa asili Brett Chapman, ambaye jamaa yake Standing Bear alikuwa Mmarekani wa asili wa kwanza kushinda haki za kiraia nchini Marekani. ""Ninaona ukosefu wote wa haki uliofanywa kwa mababu zangu kama Standing Bear na najua hiyo ilikuwa kitu ambacho familia yangu iliteseka." "Chapman alikumbuka kile babu yake mkubwa, Mkuu White Eagle, alimwambia kanisa la Alabama la watu wa Kusini wenye ubaguzi wa rangi mnamo 1883: ""Walisema walikuwa wenye ubinafsi, yeye hakuwa Mkristo na Wamarekani wa asili hawaamini katika Jahannamu kwa sababu Jahannamu kwa kweli inaishi Amerika na Wazungu.""" Uhai wetu kama sayari unategemea kufuata kile mababu zetu walichofanya kama wasimamizi wa ardhi ambao walilinda Dunia kwa maelfu na maelfu ya miaka, hadi mtu mweupe alipokosa ardhi, rasilimali na watu - yote kwa faida. Jamii za wenyeji zina zaidi ya nusu ya ardhi ya dunia, na 5% ya idadi ya watu duniani kulinda 80% ya biodiversity ya dunia. Jamii hizo zina haki za kisheria juu ya sehemu ndogo tu ya ardhi hiyo na ziko hatarini. "Mali za jamii na wenyeji zina viwango vya chini vya ukataji misitu na kuhifadhi robo ya hifadhi ya kaboni ya ulimwengu, na kufanya ardhi hizi kuwa muhimu katika kupambana na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. """ Ujuzi ambao watu wa asili wamepata kwa karne nyingi unatuwezesha kuelewa mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Hii ndiyo sababu lazima tukaribishe Siku ya Watu wa Asili. """Ikiwa tunataka kujua tunaenda wapi, ni lazima tuelewe na kuheshimu watu waliokuja kabla yetu na ambao tunaishi katika ardhi yao." Fuata David A. "Kama ilivyoandikwa kwenye Twitter, ""Dave"" ni jina la ""Dave""" Je, umesajili podcast ya <unk>Dear Culture<unk> ya Grio? Pakua vipindi vyetu vipya sasa hivi! TheGrio sasa inapatikana kwenye Apple TV, Amazon Fire na Roku. Download theGrio.com leo!