We should celebrate the Indigenous people — not a brutal fake hero like Columbus
Almost every American school child has been taught to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas.
However, Columbus was not a hero in the late 1400s — nor should he be idolized in the 21st century. In fact, for Native Americans across the nation Columbus is remembered as perpetrator of immense violence.
In 1937 Columbus Day became a federal holiday, but Columbus never set foot in North America.
So why does the U.S. celebrate a violent man who got lost in the Caribbean instead of the people who have loved and protected this land for longer than the existence of America? The truth is that Columbus left a legacy of enslaving, brutalizing and killing the Indigenous people.
It is a critical time in America — a time that requires us to refocus on the racial and ethnic inequalities in our society. In this moment we must emphasize that the Black and Indigenous fights for justice and equality are intertwined; they should not be treated as separate struggles.
Native Americans in South Carolina and across the continent — including my own nation, the Catawbas — have long suffered violence at the hands of Anglo Americans.
Today Native Americans experience police brutality at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group in America.
Violence against Native women and girls is a crisis in our nation with Native American females being 10 times more likely to be killed compared to the average national murder rate.
In addition federal and state governments continue to take Native children from their Native families and communities.
These disparities are especially urgent now as Native communities grapple with COVID-19.
Fight for visibility
Central to Native American’s struggle for justice is our fight to be visible to the general public so that we can begin to address these many crises.
Most of South Carolina’s Native people are largely ignored in discussions of violence, incarceration, voting rights and health care data; we are treated as “invisible” because we are the 1% minority.
Thus, we are often overlooked; major agencies do not produce data about our populations, which in turn decreases awareness of the systemic effects of health, criminal justice, food insecurity, economic development and educational attainment.
And the marginalization of South Carolina’s Native Americans makes it harder for us to get state leaders to hear us because we do not have the numbers to make our voices heard.
So let’s fix this invisibility.
Indigenous contributions
After all, the Indigenous people in South Carolina contributed to the creation and development of this state; our rich history began long before European encroachment and settlement.
Thousands of years before contact with Europeans, Indigenous peoples built vast empires that had functioning governments, agriculture, commerce and diverse cultures.
But most people never learn about this history.
We have changed over the centuries but we’re still here — and we still love and contribute to this land!
Let’s learn new history
All across the country there have been calls to remove statues and monuments to oppressors and to rethink the way we commemorate history.
Here in South Carolina we have an opportunity to do this, too, and to support a public commemoration of the true values of South Carolinians.
Let’s replace Columbus with a commemoration of Native people that showcases the vibrant, beautiful contemporary Native communities that make this state great.
In Columbia the Columbus statue has been temporarily removed, but Columbus statues in Virginia and other states have been destroyed or taken away. Meanwhile, at least eight states and more than 130 cities have adopted Indigenous Peoples Day.
Let’s not be left behind, South Carolina.
We should call on the state of South Carolina to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
Let’s learn some new history, South Carolina, and erect a new monument on the State House grounds to recognize the contributions that Native American people have made to our state.
Brooke Bauer is co-director of Native American Studies at the University of South Carolina Lancaster, where she is also a professor of Native American history, U.S. history and American Women’s history.