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That’s why I’m celebrating indigenous people on Mondaynot Christopher Columbusand you should too.
The author, a member of the Raven/Sockeye Clan of the Tlingit Tribe of Alaska and executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, wearing a Tlingit cedar bark woven hat with a Tlingit robe made of ermine and abalone. Courtesy of the NCAI
What we celebrate as Americans reveals our character as a country.
In school, you likely learned about Columbuss conquest of the New World and how he discovered America.
When held up to the light of truth, this myth loses its luster.
Columbuskilled and torturedmany indigenous people, and his precedent set the stage for the centuries of oppression to follow.
Yet, five centuries later, indigenous people are still hereand we are thriving.
Our perseverance and resilience in the face of extermination deserve to be recognized.
Its time for the rest of the country to follow suit.
All native people were not officially recognized asU.S.
In spite of all this, indigenous people have made and continue to make great contributions to American society.
The Constitutionis modeled in partafter the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Native Americans serve in the armed forcesat higher ratesthan any other group in the United States.
Although we have achieved so much, native communities still face many obstacles.
That legacy certainly does not deserve to be celebrated.
Yes, this nation as we know it was created in large part because of their horrific acts.
But the good thing about America is that its never too late to make our country better.
There is a clear solution here: Rename the second day in October to honor indigenous people.
I ask that you join me in this movement to change the holiday.
Contact your city councils, mayors, state legislators, governors, and members ofCongress.
Jacqueline Patais the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians.
She also serves on a variety of national executive boards.
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