Is Christopher Columbus a hero who discovered the New World? A murderous explorer? Or something in between? Should the second Monday in October continue to be a federal holiday in his honor?

More than half a millennium after Columbus arrived in the New World, some Americans are debating how he should be remembered. For schoolchildren, Columbus is usually portrayed as a kind of American saint. Around the country, parades and monuments honor him. Admirers credit him as an explorer and man guided by his Christian faith. A 2005 survey found that most Americans have a positive view of Columbus, including many Native Americans.

Since the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival took place in 1992, the legacy of his four expeditions has been re-examined. Critics and some historians hold him accountable for the exploitation and murder of indigenous people who already were living in the New World and for bringing slavery to the Western Hemisphere. A number of Native Americans are pushing to abolish the federal holiday or replace it with one that honors indigenous people.

When Columbus Day occurs on Oct. 9 this year, some parts of the country will not observe the holiday. South Dakota, Alabama and Hawaii have all renamed Columbus Day, as have Berkeley, Calif., and Portland, Ore. A measure in the U.S. House of Representatives calls on Congress or the U.S. president to establish a legal paid public holiday recognizing Native Americans, but does not mention Columbus Day.

Opposition to such changes has come from many Italian-Americans who celebrate the Italian Columbus’ accomplishments as part of their heritage, as well as from some who applaud him as a man whose faith was central to his mission. Will grass-roots efforts and scattered actions lead to a new understanding of Columbus, a de-sanctification of his image and an end to his holiday?

Jump to:

• Advocates for ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’
• Supporters of Columbus Day
• Legislation
• Alternative celebrations
• Background

Why it matters

Criticism of Columbus Day echoes recent debates over sensitivities involved in the portrayal of Native Americans in U.S. history. Are Indian names and mascots disrespectful? Is it insensitive to honor an explorer committed to spreading his Christian faith when Native Americans already had their own spiritual beliefs? Where does America draw the line between re-evaluating history and unfairly revising it?

Questions for reporters

• How will Oct. 9 be marked in your region?
• Are there monuments to Columbus?
• What do schools teach Christopher Columbus’ legacy?
• What do local Native Americans have to say about Columbus?
• Are Italian-Americans or others active on the issue?
• How is Columbus’ commitment to spreading Christianity viewed?

National sources

Advocates for ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’

AMERICAN INDIANS
• Mike L. Graham, who is Cherokee, is founder of United Native America, which is working to abolish Columbus Day and create a federal national holiday for Native Americans. He says the online holiday petition has more than 34,000 signatures. Contact mikecherokee@aol.com.
• The Indigenous Peoples Day Committee is based in Berkeley, Calif. The annual celebration event, a powwow, will not take place in 2006 because of construction at its usual site but will return in October 2007. Contact committee coordinator Rochelle Hays, 510-595-5520, indigenouspeoplesday@gmail.com.
• The Transform Columbus Day Alliance has an international membership of more than 60 organizations. Contact info@transformcolumbusday.org.
• George E. “Tink” Tinker, an ordained Lutheran pastor and member of the Osage Tribe, is professor of American Indian cultures and religious traditions at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. His books include, as author, Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide (Fortress Press, 1993) and Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation (Fortress Press, 2004); as co-author, A Native American Theology (Orbis Books, 2001); and, as co-editor, Native Voices: American Indian Identity and Resistance (University Press of Kansas, 2003). Contact 303-765-3182, ttinker@iliff.edu.
• Glenn T. Morris, who is Shawnee, is associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado, Denver, where he is executive director of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics. He is also a member of the Leadership Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, which annually protests the Columbus Day parade in Denver. Morris supports abolishing Columbus Day but says an Indigenous Peoples Day would do nothing to alleviate issues concerning the Western Hemisphere’s native peoples, such as self-determination, religious freedom and poor socioeconomic and health conditions. Contact 303-556-6243, gtm303@gmail.com.
• Tex Hall is president of the National Congress of American Indians, founded in 1944. Hall is chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota and lives in New Town, N.D. Contact 701-627-4781, chairman@mhanation.com.
• Dennis J. Banks, an Ojibwe, is chairman and co-founder of the American Indian Movement. The AIM site lists its speakers from around the country. Contact 218-654-5885, AIMGGC@worldnet.att.net.
• Joseph Martin, a Menominee, is president of the National Native American Bar Association. The association lists its officers from around the country and members by state. The Web site includes links to American Indian legal associations. Contact Martin at 989-775-4800, jmartin@sagchip.org.
• Suzan Shown Harjo, who is Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, is president of the Morning Star Institute, a national Indian rights organization. Contact 202-547-5531, sharjo@cris.com.
• Russell Means, an Oglala/Lakota, is an activist and an actor, producer, speaker and musician. He wrote the best-selling autobiography Where White Men Fear to Tread (St. Martin’s Press, 1996). Contact 505-421-0046, treaty@plateautel.net.
• Buffy Sainte-Marie, who is Cree, is a singer, composer, artist and educator. She founded and operates the Nihewan Foundation for Native American Education. Contact the foundation at 808-822-3111, info@nihewan.org, or her agent, Todd Jordan, todd@paquinentertainment.com.
• Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson are co-editors of Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Rethinking Schools, 1998). They can discuss issues of how Columbus is taught and could be taught in schools. Bigelow works for Rethinking Schools magazine and teaches a class at Franklin High School in Portland, Ore.; Peterson teaches fifth grade at La Escuela Fratney, which is a public bilingual school in Milwaukee. Contact Bigelow, bbpdx@aol.com, or Peterson, repmilw@aol.com.

ACADEMICS
• James W. Loewen is a visiting professor of sociology at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and the author of several books, including The Truth About Columbus (New York: The New Press, 1992). Contact 202-269-6655, jloewen@zoo.uvm.edu.
• Paul Martin Lester is professor of communications at California State University-Fullerton. See a 1993 essay he published in Visual Anthropology about why Columbus should not be honored. Contact 714-278-4606, lester@fullerton.edu.
• Bernard McGinn is Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity in the Divinity School and the Committees on Medieval Studies and on General Studies. Read his thoughts about how Columbus was on an apocalyptic mission, from the PBS show Frontline. Contact bmcginn@midway.uchicago.edu.

Supporters of Columbus Day

• The National Columbus Celebration Association celebrates his historic achievement and his values, which it lists as faith, the courage of his convictions, dedication to purpose, perseverance in effort, professional excellence, and boldness in facing the unknown. It posts articles about the explorer. It’s based in Washington, D.C., where it sponsors celebrations. Contact christoferens@juno.com.
• Dona De Sanctis is deputy executive director of the Order Sons of Italy in America, which does not support changing the name of the federal holiday. She says it has not been an issue in Eastern states. Read the reports “Columbus: Fact vs. Fiction” and “With Liberty for All”; from the organization’s home page, click Newsroom, then Reports & Studies. Contact 202-547-2900, ddesanctis@osia.org.
• Robert Royal serves as president of the Faith & Reason Institute. Read an article he wrote about Columbus. He says that the controversy over Columbus Day has calmed and that most people do not believe that the United States is illegitimate country because Native Americans were here when explorers arrived. Contact 202-289-8775, royal@frinstitute.org.
• The National Italian American Foundation lists Columbus monuments nationwide.

Legislation

• U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., has sponsored House Resolution 76 to establish a legal holiday recognizing Native Americans’ contributions. Contact 202-225-6161.
• In Oklahoma, state Rep. Glen Bud Smithson, D-Sallisaw, introduced a bill in 2005 that would have replaced Columbus Day with Native American Day. The bill did not receive a committee hearing. Contact 405-557-7315 (Capitol office), 918-775-0367 (district office), glensmithson@okhouse.gov.
• In Maine, a proposal in 2005 by Portland School Committee member Jason Toothaker to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day failed to get enough committee votes for passage. Contact toothj@portlandschools.org.

Alternative celebrations

• Tom Bates is the mayor of Berkeley, Calif., which celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. Contact 510-981-7100 , mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us.
• Tom Potter is the mayor of Portland, Ore., which celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. Contact 503-823-412, mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us.
• Duluth, Minn., Mayor Herb Bergson designated Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the city in 2005. Contact 218-730-5230, hbergson@ci.duluth.mn.us.
• The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Conn., will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 9. Contact Michael J. Donoghue, director, 203-432-3752, peabody.director@yale.edu.
• At Crazy Horse Memorial, in Crazy Horse, S.D., festivities Oct. 9 will mark the 17th year South Dakota has celebrated Native American Day. Contact 605-673-4681, memorial@crazyhorse.org.
• The University of Arkansas has celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day since 2004. Read an Oct. 12, 2005, Arkansas Traveler article (registration required) about the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Film Festival, which will be Oct. 9-13, 2006. Read a news release about the Sept. 25-27, 2006, Native American Symposium. Contact Frank Scheide, associate professor of communications, 479-575-5961, fscheide@uark.edu.
• Since 1998, Utah has marked an Indigenous Peoples Day on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Forrest Cuch, who is Ute, is executive director of the state’s Division of Indian Affairs. Cuch says recognition is given to various people’s contributions to Utah’s American Indians. Contact fscuch@utah.gov.
• JoKay Dowell, who is Quapaw/Cherokee, founded and directs the Eagle and Condor Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance in Oklahoma, which sponsors the Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Sovereignty and Solidarity on the second Monday in October. Read about the 2005 event in a Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press article, posted Oct. 11, 2005, by the Edmond Sun. Contact jkdowell@earthlink.net.
• In 2004 Alabama renamed Columbus Day as American Indian Heritage/Columbus Day.
• Hawaii has renamed Columbus Day as Discoverers’ Day.
• In 2005, the Native American Women’s Association at Washington State University sold nearly 300″Killumbus” T-shirts, according to articles published Oct. 11, 2005, and Oct. 10, 2005, by The Daily Evergreen student publication.
• Montana, in addition to Columbus Day, celebrates American Indian Heritage Day on the fourth Friday of September. Read a column published Sept. 23, 2005, by the Billings Gazette.

Background

• See a 2004 ReligionLink tip on Native American spiritual issues.
• Oct. 9 each year also honors Nordic explorer Leif Erickson, since a 2005 proclamation by President Bush.
• Read a Columbia Encyclopedia entry on Columbus, posted at Bartleby.com.
• Read “Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day?“, posted by the United Confederation of Taíno People.
• A University of Michigan study found most Americans still admire Columbus, according to an Oct. 4, 2005, UM news release.
• Read an Oct. 10, 2005, Democracy Now transcript about activism for Indigenous Peoples Day.
• Read an Oct. 14, 2005, Indian Country Today article about a Columbus Day panel at Syracuse University.
• Read a November 1995 essay in First Things about the debate over Christopher Columbus’ actions toward the Indians and his legacy.
• The National Council of Churches adopted a resolution called “A Faithful Response” in 1990 calling the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first landing and “the painful aspects of the American history of racism.”
• Read a 2002 essay by Phyllis Schlafly lauding Columbus’ commitment to spreading Christianity in America, posted on the site of the Eagle Forum.
• The PBS show Frontline did a special called Apocalypse, which included exploring whether Columbus believed he was on an apocalyptic, divinely-ordained mission. See a page of short essays.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST
• John W. Hart is professor of Christian ethics at Boston University’s School of Theology and has expertise in American Indians and North American indigenous religions. Contact 617-353-3032, drjhart@bu.edu.
• gkisedtanamoogk, who is Wampanoag, teaches Native American studies at the University of Maine. Contact 207-581-4454, gkisedtanamoogk@anikwom.org.
• The Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness is a nonprofit organization. Its Web site lists tribes, tribal councils and Native American groups in New England. Contact 617-884-4227, mcnaa@aol.com.

IN THE EAST
• Laura E. Donaldson, who is Cherokee, is associate professor of English and American Indian studies at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., where she is also on the faculty of the American Indian Program. Contact 607-255-9312, ld49@cornell.edu.
• Oren R. Lyons is a professor of American studies at State University of New York, Buffalo. He is a faithkeeper in the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, responsible for maintaining and representing customs and traditions of his people. He publishes Daybreak, a national American Indian magazine. Contact orlyons@acsu.buffalo.edu.
• Keith E. Sealing, assistant dean at Syracuse University’s College of Law in Syracuse, N.Y., tracks court cases involving American Indian religious issues. Contact 315-443-3192, kesealin@law.syr.edu.
• Robert Odawi Porter, a member of the Seneca Nation, is senior associate dean and professor at Syracuse University’s College of Law in Syracuse, N.Y. He is Dean’s Research Scholar of Indigenous Nations Law and directs The Center for Indigenous Law, Governance and Citizenship. Contact 315-443-1712, odawi@law.syr.edu.
• Natalie Moore-Lopez is president of Native Americans at Princeton University. Contact nmoore@princeton.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Jace Weaver is a religion professor at the University of Georgia, Athens, who specializes in American Indian cultures and religious traditions. Weaver directs the university’s Institute of Native American Studies. Contact 706-542-1492, jweaver@uga.edu.

IN THE SOUTH
• Read an Oct. 12, 2005, article from the Arkansas Traveler about the University of Arkansas’ celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day.
• Sharlotte Neely is a professor of anthropology at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. She has expertise in North American Indians, especially the Cherokee, Shawnee and Navajo. NKU has a Native American Studies program. She wrote Snowbird Cherokees: People of Persistence (University of Georgia Press, 1993) and co-wrote This Land Was Theirs: A Study of Native Americans (Mayfield Publishing, 1998). Contact 859-572-5258, neelys@nku.edu.
• Phillip Martin is chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Contact Chassidy Wilson, office of public information, 601-650-1693, chassidy.wilson@choctaw.org.

IN THE MIDWEST
• Melanie Benjamin is chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, based in Onamia, Minn. Contact inquiries@millelacsojibwe.nsn.us.
• Brian Buchanan is chief of the Miami Nation of Indiana. Contact 765-473-9631, miamiindians@sbcglobal.net.
• Michelene E. Pesantubbee is assistant professor of religious studies and of American Indian and Native studies at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Contact 319-335-2116, michelene-pesantubbe@uiowa.edu.
• Alfred Bone Shirt of St. Francis, S.D., is the contact person for the Dakota-Lakota-Nakota Human Rights Advocacy Coalition. Contact Bone Shirt, huhoogle@gwtc.net.
• Wayne H. Evans is a professor of South Dakota Indian studies at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D. Contact 605-677-5808, wevans@usd.edu.
• Raymond J. DeMallie is professor of anthropology and adjunct professor of folklore at Indiana University, where he directs the American Indian Studies Research Institute. His books include, as co-editor, Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13, Plains (Smithsonian Institution, 2001). Contact 812-855-4086, demallie@indiana.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST
• Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper wrote in a letter published Sept. 28, 2005, by the Rocky Mountain News that organizers of the city’s annual Columbus Day parade have the right to hold the event and that opponents have the right to lawfully protest.
• Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who retired from public office after representing Colorado in the U.S. Senate (1993-2005) and the U.S. House (1987-93), is one of 44 chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. He is an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Holland & Knight. Contact 202-457-7035, ben.Campbell@hklaw.com.
• Jonathan Batkin directs the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, N.M. Contact 505-982-4636, director@wheelwright.org.
• Joe Shirley Jr. of Chinle, Ariz., is president of the Navajo Nation, which includes portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Contact George Hardeen, 928-871-6352, georgehardeen@opvp.org.
• Kathleen S. Fine-Dare is professor of anthropology and gender/women’s studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., and has expertise on Native North America. She wrote Grave Injustice: The American Indian Repatriation Movement and NAGPRA (University of Nebraska Press, 2002). Contact 970-247-7438, fine_k@fortlewis.edu.
• Ward Churchill, who is Creek and Cherokee, is a professor of ethnic studies and coordinator of American Indian studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a leader in the American Indian Movement of Colorado. His numerous books include, as author, Speaking Truth in the Teeth of Power: Lectures on Globalization, Colonialism and Native North America (AK Press, 2006). Contact 303-492-8852, Ward.Churchill@Colorado.EDU.
• Gregory Cajete, a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo, directs Native American studies at the University of New Mexico. Contact 505-277-3917, gcajete@unm.edu.