[Happy?] Columbus Day
Image from here
Today is Columbus Day, which FCNL doesn't celebrate on principle. Columbus Day marks the beginning of the greatest genocide and mass relocation and land theft our country has known. It is fitting, then, that this is the day on which I should receive this article in my inbox. It discusses an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill called the Native American Apology Resolution. In short, the Senate wants to say "We're really sorry for everything the US Government has put you through" to Native Americans. It also asks the President to "acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes."
By further coincidence, a response was forwarded to me a couple hours later. In this open letter, the Indian Law Resource Center says "no thanks" to the official apology. They say that for the apology to be real and true, the government would have to stop doing the things for which it apologizes. However, the letter says, the government continues to take land and money from Native Americans.
On this national holiday, I encourage everyone to think about the other side of the Columbus Day coin.
posted by Inez at
1:14 PM
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dan Smith has another good blog on this from two years ago.
Some of the pristine National Parks should be given back to the Indian Nations to truly show regrets plus each Indian group should be give the status of International Cultural Treasure to be protected, preserved, and respected. A council of Indian representatives should be created to advise on environmental and other matters relying on their long term connection to the lands we occupy.
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