Happy Native American Day!
Posted by Camillus on Oct 08, 2007 · Member since May 2007 · 1009 posts
I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Native American day. It is usually celebrated in place of the horrific Columbus day, but some states with a higher Native American population celebrate it on October 10th. My thoughts are with my fellow Natives, and against genocide, racism, sexism, and the other horrors that Christopher Columbus helped to bring about here, and in other lands.
Christopher Columbus Day is probably the second most horrific holiday on the American holiday (behind Thanksgiving). I mean seriously let's close the schools, banks, and libraries in "honor" of someone who didn't accomplish what he's given credit for, was responsible for the murder and exploitation of millions of individuals for his own personal gain, and the enslavement of entire cultures.
What a standup human being for the children of today to be looking up to....And I really need to go to the bank today >:(
Schools are open here, today. I really hate thinking about what that school is teaching my kid. Christopher Colombus, health and well-being, intelligent(?!) design, abstinence-only sex ed, the reinforcing of gender expectations. Ugh. I counteract all that at home as much as I can. I feel sorry for the kids whose parents don't know/ don't care/ don't question what is going on in our schools.
But, back to the topic at hand: Happy Native American Day!
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411758
and
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9047
In california it's celebrated on the 4th Friday in September. North Dakota is the only one that celebrates it today. And they are the only 2 states that recognize the holiday.
Which means... Happy Columbus Day for the rest of us.
Yes, it's more of a personal holiday for most of the U.S.
Schools, State, and City offices all open. The only people that even acknowledge it are the banks, fed gov, some county offices, and post offices.
What kills me is that at least when I was a kid in the 60's, they made a big deal about it in school and they acted like Columbus discovered America for us to live in. Followed by a rousing chorus of that awful "This land is your land, this land is my land...this land was made for you and me." No, as a matter of fact, I don't think it was. For the elk, jackrabbits, blackbirds and buffalo, certainly. And whoever humans were there at the time. The Europeans happened along rather late in the equation.
Even at age 6 I didn't buy into that...and my parents did. So much for nature vs. nurture.
And I bet Squanto and his posse have been cursing their own helpfulness ever since. (Yes, I realise that's probably another historical legend. I'm being facetious.)
I'm just seriously inconvenienced by the post office being closed.
YAY for the Native Americans!! Sorry we stole your land! And lots of other awful stuff.
I feel so... horrible. :(
Honestly, I'm kind of torn with Columbus Day. I grew up with it, my teachers had us sing the songs, do the crossword puzzles, read the text, but they never told us why we celebrate the day. They never explained why we have the day off, who or what we're honoring. All we were ever told was that it was for the guy who created America. Yes, my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Bates, told us he created this land. >:(
This is one main reason I hate it. The other is because, like you all stated, he killed the natives, brought famine and plagues, over-hunted many animal species, and more things than can be mentioned.
But on the other hand, you have that he did help make America what it is today, good and bad. Without him 'discovering' the land for Spain only for Britain to take it, then who knows what language we would speak, what culture we would have, who we would pray to. Would we still inhabit this area, or would our ancestors have all fled or died for some reason, and leave this land for the leftover natives or another group? Whether you like him and what he did or not, you have to admit that - unless of course you are in fact a Native American Indian - it can be speculated if you and your family would live here today without him and his greed.
:-\
I'd rather Columbus not have "found" America, even though it was known already to the Vikings, who had been to North America before Columbus.
Honestly, I'm kind of torn with Columbus Day. I grew up with it, my teachers had us sing the songs, do the crossword puzzles, read the text, but they never told us why we celebrate the day. They never explained why we have the day off, who or what we're honoring. All we were ever told was that it was for the guy who created America. Yes, my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Bates, told us he created this land. >:(
This is one main reason I hate it. The other is because, like you all stated, he killed the natives, brought famine and plagues, over-hunted many animal species, and more things than can be mentioned.
But on the other hand, you have that he did help make America what it is today, good and bad. Without him 'discovering' the land for Spain only for Britain to take it, then who knows what language we would speak, what culture we would have, who we would pray to. Would we still inhabit this area, or would our ancestors have all fled or died for some reason, and leave this land for the leftover natives or another group? Whether you like him and what he did or not, you have to admit that - unless of course you are in fact a Native American Indian - it can be speculated if you and your family would live here today without him and his greed.
:-\
I'd rather Columbus not have "found" America, even though it was known already to the Vikings, who had been to North America before Columbus.
Agreed, and things would probably be different if there wasn't slavery or the Holocaust...but that doesn't mean we need to celebrate the facts that those things happened. Some things in history just need to make us hang our heads in shame for mankind, IMO at least
Happy Native American Day!
I wonder why they celebrate it differently in California and North Dakota?
Do they have alot of festivals and pow wows today in the tribes?
There are several other states besides just CA and ND that celebrate Native American Day. And yes, it is celebrated by powwow's (which also occur all over the US many times throughout the year), storytelling, native singing and music, educating, etc. We've celebrated Native American Day in my state for at least the last 10-15 years.
Someone told me the other day that it is called "Indigenous People's Day" now? Rather than Columbus Day?
I'm still miffed that the post office is closed, but I'd prefer to celebrate Indigenous/Native American People's day than Columbus.
I'm a little confused...I know that in the US they often celebrate a holiday that falls midweek, on the weekend days...but this yr the 12th is FRIDAY, so that would be your 3-day weekend right there. Is Columbus day or whatever no longer the 12th? Here in Spain it's a holiday with several names, depending on your political preference: Hispanidad Day, Race-pride day (shudder), Our Lady of the Pillar...to them "Columbus Day" is an import that doesn't exist.
But why did they move it when the 12th is on a Friday? Or did I miss something (probably)?
I think it's the first monday in oct. I'm not sure how it works.
I"m not sure, yabbit. All I know is that schools around here had an 'institute day' on Friday (5th) and the 8th off for Columbus day.
This is the second Monday of the month.
"Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second Monday in October, the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada. It is generally observed today by schools, some banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service, federal offices, and most state government offices; however, most businesses and stock exchanges remain open."
Hm. Interesting. Confusing, but interesting.
Hm. Interesting. Confusing, but interesting.
Here in the US we don't really do things that make sense...
think: not using metric measurements and I'm sure tons of other things I can't necessarily put my finger on at the moment.
I remember in the 70's they tried to "go metric" by teaching us the conversion tables. Even in gradeschool, when learning new stuff is what you do, we found it confusing, and a waste of time because our teachers were sending the subliminal message "this isn't really necessary".
When I moved to Europe, I figured it out: you throw away the old system, and learn that, say, a kilo of potatoes is so many. A litre of water is like so much. For a skirt you need this much material. After awhile it sinks in.
Same thing with the Euro. People went mad with conversion tables and special calculators and even special wallets. I just picked my 5 basic-needs supermarket items to compare. Like a quart of milk: 67-70 centimes is "normal" price. Anything higher is expensive. Anything lower, and either it's on special or it fell of the back of a lorry somewhere. ;D