An amazing part of history that many of us learn too late, but then, it’s never too late, is it?
Thanks to Howard Zinn for revealing this information, and to Dandelion Salad for giving permission to re-blog it.
Note: the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Confederacy) and the United States signed the Canandaigua Treaty on November 11, 1794.
by Howard Zinn
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 12, 2009
An excerpt from A People’s History of the United States.
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island’s beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:
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A friend sent me this http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day Have you come cross it? What do you think?
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Thanks for sharing this link, Mama D. How interesting to see that the beginning of the webpage is from Howard Zinn’s book that is featured above.
The rest of the page is a great transformation story. I’ll celebrate Bartolome Day today, too, since I missed it in October. I like stories about people who did things that we gasp at, and then lived the rest of their life doing something inspiring. That gets into the subject of prison reform, which has been simmering in me for decades. You’ll probably see a post here about that.
The idea of Columbus “discovering” the “New World” boggles my mind. How could my elementary school teachers tell us that with straight faces? How could they not realize how bizarre that idea was? I guess the same way that I believed things that were absurd until I learned better. I wonder what ridiculous things I believe now…
The cartoon states that Columbus was myopically focused on the discovery of gold that he found, not land, and that his obsession was partly fueled by the Natives themselves because they wore gold jewelry. WHAT???
This gets into the whole argument of the responsibility of a victim for perpetrating an attack. So, the Natives were supposed to hide their jewelry away when their uninvited and surprisingly overwhelming guests arrived? Am I missing something here?
This presentation of the story is a good reminder of the part Columbus played in the African slave trade disaster. Globalization then.
I want to check out the book, “Lies My Teacher Told Me”.
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