Columbus Day Protesters Demand Holiday Be Renamed To Honor Explorer's Victims

NEW YORK, NY — As controversy grows over Christopher Columbus' legacy, Native American groups are rallying Monday to have the holiday in the Italian explorer's honor named Indigenous Peoples Day instead.

As the third annual Indigenous Peoples Celebration is held on Monday – Columbus Day – on Randall's Island, Native American activists said their goals aren't opposed to those of Italian-Americans who celebrate Columbus as a symbol of ethnic heritage.

It's the man himself, who tortured and killed scores of indigenous people in the Caribbean and the Americas, that the activists have a problem with, they said. That's why the statue of him at Columbus Circle should come down, and why New York should follow the lead of other cities such as San Francisco and recognize Indigenous Peoples Day, they said.

“It’s really evident how strong the Italian pride and heritage is in New York City and that’s something that’s really beautiful and should be celebrated," Aru Apaza, an organizer at the American Indian Community House on Manhattan's Lower East Side, told Patch.

"I think as Native people, though, and as people who really suffered at the hands of Columbus and his escapades and his journeys, it’s really, really disheartening and really sad to see people gathering behind this specific thing, this specific man."

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In the wake of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia – spurred by the planned removal of Confederate monuments – de Blasio appointed a commission to review statues and landmarks around the city that should be removed because they're symbols of oppression.

Leaders of the American Indian Community House sent a letter to that commission Friday urging the removal of all the city's Columbus monuments. The Randall's Island event's organizers also have an online petition with nearly 1,800 signatures asking the City Council to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day.

"We must collectiv(ely) acknowledge the atrocities of Columbus and admit he has no place in US society," the letter says.

At least 14 other communities in the U.S. have recognized Indigenous Peoples Day since October 2015, the petition says. Los Angeles, Phoenix and the state of Vermont are among them, but New York, with a population of more than 32,700 Native American people, has not followed suit.

De Blasio's decision to include the Columbus Circle statue in his commission's review has drawn ire from Italian-American leaders. The Columbus Citizens Foundation, which organizes city's biggest Columbus Day Parade, led 40 other Italian-American groups in a boycott of de Blasio's Italian heritage reception Thursday night, the New York Post reported.

The mayor, himself an Italian-American, is still planning to attend Monday's Fifth Avenue parade. But he wasn't invited to another in the Bronx, the Post reported — the organizer called him "a fake Italian."

De Blasio's press secretary, Eric Phillips, tweeted Wednesday that there is "no plan to touch the Columbus statue."

SEE ALSO: NYPD To Increase Security At Columbus Circle Statue

The back-and-forth misses the point, as the issue is not the value of celebrating Italian heritage but the veneration of a painful historical figure, Native American activists said.

Angelo Vivolo, the Columbus Citizens Foundation's president, penned a statement in August saying the Columbus Circle statue "played a vital role in Italian-American acceptance." Its erection was funded by Italian immigrants in 1892, Vivolo wrote.

The atrocities Columbus committed in the Caribbean where he landed in 1492 and later served as a colonial governor, "deserve serious reflection and acknowledgement" but don't detract from his significance or the statue's, Vivolo wrote.

"As all nations do, we must continue to reevaluate our history as Americans, and whom we choose to honor," Vivolo wrote. "That being said, we will state for the record that we will not allow that reflection to come at the expense of a monument that has come to represent the many achievements that Italian Americans have accomplished."

Vivolo did not return Patch's phone call seeking an interview for this story.

But to Native American people, the statue is a looming reminder of "the dark history of the United States" that often gets omitted from history books, said Shawnee Rice, an American Indian Community House organizer and volunteer.

Columbus' actions are not abhorrent just by today's standards, Apaza said. He was jailed upon his return to Spain in 1500 for atrocities he committed as a colonial governor on the island of Hispaniola, only to be released by King Ferdinand six weeks later. Historical documents from the time attest to his cruel methods, which included maiming people and selling them into slavery.

It's "unfortunate" that the Columbus Day debate sometimes pits Native Americans against Italian-Americans, because there are bigger issues at stake, said Cliff Matias, director of the Brooklyn-based Redhawk Native American Arts Council. The nonprofit sponsors the annual Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration.

Native activists want to talk with Italian-American leaders and find common ground when it comes to celebrating cultures and respecting history, Apaza said.

"It's not an Italian-American issue; it’s an American issue, and should Americans honor a complete mistruth about this country?” Matias said.

Activists said the mayoral commission's review is a good step, but the panel must prove it's serious about its work and should consider feedback from Native Americans and other ethnic groups.

No matter what happens, Native Americans in New York will continue celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day to honor their history, activists said.

“Columbus Day has always been Indigenous Peoples Day to us, so when it happens on (Oct. 9) we just take that time to remember our ancestors, traditions, to come together and to celebrate that," Rice said.

De Blasio's office did not respond to Patch's emailed questions about Indigenous People's Day, the statue and the status of the commission's review. But earlier this week, the mayor said the leaders protesting his reception didn't speak for all Italian-Americans.

"I could not be more proud of my heritage, and we’re having an event to celebrate that heritage, as we have every year," de Blasio said at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday.

The Indigenous Peoples Celebration runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at Randall's Island Park. The Columbus Day Parade starts at 11 a.m. Monday at Fifth Avenue and 47th Street. Both events are free to attend.

(Lead image courtesy of Cliff Matias)