I am Indigenous. My ancestors were colonized, raped and had countless atrocities committed against them by conquistadors that soon followed Columbus' galleons of disease and death. I have spent most of my life trying to reclaim what little remained of my people's indigenous heritage after 400 years of occupation, subjugation and genocide, by men who looked very much like Christopher Columbus, or rather Cristobal Colon (yes, that is where the world "colonization" comes from.) I along with so many Indigenous Activists and allies have taken it upon ourselves to educate our communities, families, colleagues and friends about the root cause of our collective suffering and begin to address these issues from a decolonized framework.
But this is beside the point. Allow me to address the question:
Why do "some people" call it Indigenous People's Day rather than Columbus Day?
Simply put: Celebrating Columbus Day = Celebrating Genocide. Yah, I said it.
To me, Columbus and other conquistadors represent centuries of anguish, broken promises and the destruction of eons of tradition. So when people, especially people whom I consider respected colleagues celebrate him and his invasion, it hurts. It hurts on a very visceral level. My blood screams and the marrow in my bones burn. I do not know if this is the rage of my ancestors contained in my genetic memory but I do know that to allow this affront to continue is plainly, unjust and spits in the face of those who came before us. As social justice activists, we cannot abide by this rosy colored version of history. In order for us to truly be holistic in our activism we must acknowledge the past as it pertains to the inequitable present and future, of all oppressed peoples. It is blatantly disrespectful to invalidate the genuine need (and movement behind it) to acknowledge one day, out of 365 to be identified as a day of recovery, reclamation and decolonization.
Although, I am generations and centuries removed from Ferdinand Magellan's invasion, I still deal with my own internalized racism and self hatred that was instilled within the "Indios" of the Philippines by their Spanish overlords. My people are still dealing with the ramifications of systematic genocide, resource extraction, cultural colonization and the death of our gods at the hands of the European "explorers".
I would like to call on all of you to use Oct 10th as a day to self educate, open up that old copy of Howard Zinn's "The People's History Of the United States", find a local event; a teach-in, a protest, or a celebration of resistance and join, in solidarity with people who are still struggling for their side of history to be told. Don't just let this be another "day off" make it a "day on."
I will never celebrate Columbus. I will never honor the accomplishment of those who walked with death close behind them. I will never let the fury of my ancestors become silenced. I will not stand idly by watching the terror and pain of the Indigenous People's of this continent get white washed and Disneyfied. I will never allow the dignity and legacy of Indigenous People's who came before, to be sullied by the lies of the conquistadors.
I will never forgive and I will never forget.
October 10th is Indigenous People's Day.
Kalaya'an Mendoza
Twitter: @KalaMendoza
Facebook.com/kalayaan
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By bernie on November 11, 2011 - 3:00pm
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By ja.ruantoramirez on October 13, 2011 - 2:23pm
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By hisaysmark on October 13, 2011 - 11:09am
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By paola on October 13, 2011 - 10:39am
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Comments
I wonder why there are hardly any Pin@y writers tackling this issue. It's extremely important, but at the same time, we must be careful not to fall into the same infighting trap that many movements have fallen into (questioning the "Asianness" of hapas, nitpicking on APA women about interracial dating, protesting Hollywood movies that don't have APAs in them, etc.)
I'll admit, decolonization of our community is quite difficult. But it can be done, it will take a while.
Oh lordy. The problem with PilAms is that they dont understand the ethno-racial politics and project that happened/happens in the Philippines nation-state. They think its like a kumbaya-its-a-small-world-after-all sorta thing and nothing says "its a small world" than those damn folk dances. They dont comprehend neo-cultural colonialism and internal colonialism within the nation-state as a form of nation maintenance.
THEN they get those damn tattoos and call themselves indigenous when our ancestors earned & deserve those tattoos through their own endeavors. For PilAms, those tattoos are their way of mystically returning to an indigenous state that they were never a part of. I am sick and tired of this "decolonizing" bs. If Tagalogs want to decolonize themselves...then they need to go back to Tagalog roots. Stop reappropriating ACTUAL indigenous cultures for self-gain and self-"worth."
We are a people...not a dance suite!
We are a people...not your wall decors & table runners!
We are a people...not your anthropological research!
Umm who is this guy? Someone should tell him that coming from the Philippines does not make you indigenous by default. Check your history, the Philippines (mainstream Tagalog folks) itself oppressed their indigenous folks when they created their own national project, for the sake of becoming independently recognized by Spain.
Granted, we're on the same side against his criticism of Columbus Day, but don't be writing blowhard stuff before you check your position. Also, his last name is Mendoza, that still sounds colonized to me from his viewpoints, creating a indigenous first name doesn't really seem decolonial.
I'd go into more stuff, but my sis Paola already wrote on some of what I wanted to add. Reflect on Zinn's book and see how its themes can be mirrored by the plight of those in other respective countries who's voices and histories have been ignored by the mainstream national project in power.
I agree... I will never understand why our country still celebrates Columbus Day. By celebrating him for "discovering America," not only do we applaud genocide but we also continue to perpetuate cultural genocide by erasing the indigenous, original inhabitants of the land from the narrative. How can you be credited as the "discoverer" of a land already inhabited?
That said, the Pilipina/o diaspora also needs to acknowledge its own indigenous peoples and the cultural genocide that has historically been committed against them which continues today. Igorots, Palawanos, Aetas, and the many other indigenous groups in the Philippines have continued to faced oppression from other Pilipina/o groups.
We still face blatant racism from other Pilipinas/os. It has happened to me not once but many, many times where I have told a Pilipina/o that I was Igorota and s/he replied in surprise, "Really?! But you are so light-skinned and beautiful!"
And we are threatened with cultural erasure because of a Philippine national project that attempts to create a national identity which elevates some Pilipina/o groups and erases others... all while appropriating aspects of indigenous culture and identity and claiming it as their own. For example, look at Pilipina/o "folk dances" stolen from us, butchered, and taken out of their original context.
We face environmental racism, as the Philippine government brings in international contractors to mine our mountains, build dams that flood and destroy our lands, and cut down our trees... all at our expense and at their profit.
Decolonization of the Pilipina/o mind will never be achieved until Pilipinas/os start acknowledging the atrocities committed against its own indigenous peoples... and then doing something about it.