
- Details
- By Levi Rickert
WASHINGTON — In a proclamation to commemorate Christopher Columbus, President Donald Trump on Friday denounced “extremists” who seek to replace the discussion of Columbus’ vast contributions. The president’s proclamation was made in advance of Columbus Day, which is a national holiday to be commemorated on Monday, Oct. 12.
“Sadly, in recent years, radical activists have sought to undermine Christopher Columbus’s legacy,” Trump said in the proclamation. “These extremists seek to replace discussion of his vast contributions with talk of failings, his discoveries with atrocities, and his achievements with transgressions.”
Many American Indians have sought for decades to change the Columbus Day name to Indigenous Peoples Day. American Indians see little value in honoring a man who they see as a greedy murderer who got lost and thought he was in India when he landed in the Americas.
In the aftermath of George Flyod's murder in Minneapolis. Christopher Columbus statues were toppled in several cities in the United States, including in the plaza outside the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. Minn.
Trump, on the other hand, in early September 2020 signed an executive order to establish a commission to promote “patriotic education” to American school children.
“Together, we must safeguard our history and stop this new wave of iconoclasm by standing against those who spread hate and division,” Trump declared.
Trump’s proclamation echoes the tone he used during the presidential debate on Sept. 29. that denounced diversity training. He uses the same rhetoric during his rallies to energize his faithful. Trump said about diversity training programs programs “are grounded in the same type of revisionist history that is trying to erase Christopher Columbus from our national heritage.”
In the meantime, American Indians will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday concentrating on the vast contributions of tribal peoples across the United States.
Read the 2020 Columbus Day Proclamation.
More Stories Like This
Lawsuit Filed by Fort Belknap Indian Community Against Greenberg Traurig, LLP Reads Like a Movie ScriptSpecial Edition Native Bidaské: Oglala Composer Mato Wayuhi
Ho-Chunk Trucker Spreads MMIP Message, Offers Safe Haven from Domestic Violence
Native News Weekly (September 24, 2023): D.C. Briefs
Assemblyman Ramos Honored with Award for Long Service to California Native American Commission
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.