My mom was born on Columbus Day. That’s probably the biggest memory I have of the day.
When I was a student, Columbus was studied in many grades. We learned, “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.” We also memorized facts about other explorers during the Age of Exploration.
It wasn’t until I was in college, however, that my classes brought out detailed information about the Native American cultures that were here before the explorers arrived and how their cultures were devastated by the discovery of the “New World.”
My son-in-law is Spanish. He pointed out to me that the Spanish explorers and those that followed intermarried with Indians of South America and new cultures were created.
In North America, Native peoples were killed in battles and by diseases. Those who survived were moved off their lands to reservations.
See “Questions to Ponder as Columbus Day Nears…” from the United Confederation of Taino People for a different opinion of Columbus Day. The Taino People lived in the Bahamas where Columbus landed.
