In 2025

 

Today, schools, banks and other federal agencies were closed. When I was in grade school our bulletin boards displayed a profile of Christopher Columbus and the stenciled letters,  In 1492, Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue. Silhouettes of his three sailing ships, The Nina, the Pina and the Santa Maria were artfully stapled in three corners.  I later learned that Leif Erickson discovered America centuries before Columbus arrived though I never did learn the name of Leif's ships. 

Merriam-Webster defines the word Discover as 1. to make known 2. to obtain sight or knowledge for the first time. I suppose that by either definition, both Chris and  Leif  revealed a lush, previously unknown world to their respective benefactors. However, it's important to note that no where does Merriam-Webster suggest that discovery means ownership.  

Inhabiting this land long before even Leif arrived, Native Americans recognized that no one owns the earth. Their relationship with the earth is like that of Rachel Carson, the subject of  my recent verse novel. In her book, Silent Spring, Rachel wrote, Man is a part of nature and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.  Perhaps if early explorers been more respectful of the Native Americans, if they had learned from them instead of trying to conquer them, perhaps our planet would be less endangered and more at peace.

While some people continue to call this day Columbus Day, others prefer to recognize those who were already here when Columbus discovered America. A number of states celebrate the day as Indigenous People's Day or Native American Day. Unfortunately there are also those who believe that calling the second Monday of October Indigenous People's Day is eradicating our history. 

Facts are facts. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue and discovered a beautiful land inhabited by the  Lucayan, Taino and Arawak people.  It is also a fact that decades after Columbus's discovery, the Native American population was decimated by illness, warfare and displacement. 

You might say these people were eradicated. 

Humanity has a difficult time understanding history. Many have yet to learn that power is not ownership and peace will never blossom in a land that refuses to respect the earth and to recognize the shared humanity of all people.  

On this second Monday of October, I choose to honor all people who cherish the land they stand on and work toward  peace.