MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022 - WHAT DAY IS IT? IMMIGRATION

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022 - SO, WHAT DAY IS IT?

Today, the second Monday in October has traditionally been Columbus Day

But, it is also Indigenous Peoples Day 

We have two Presidential Proclamations:

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First - Columbus Day 2022

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 10, 2022, as Columbus Day.  I direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and all who have contributed to shaping this Nation.

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Second - Indigenous People’s Day

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 10, 2022, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shaping this Nation. 

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And, from the President’s Proclamation of Columbus Day: 

Things have not always been easy; prejudice and violence often stalled the promise of equal opportunity.  In fact, Columbus Day was created by President Harrison in 1892 in response to the anti-Italian motivated lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans in 1891.  During World War II, Italian Americans were even targeted as enemy aliens.  But the hard work, dedication to community, and leadership of Italian Americans in every industry make our country stronger, more prosperous, and more vibrant.  

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And, from the President’s Proclamation of Indigenous People’s Day 

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the sovereignty, resilience, and immense contributions that Native Americans have made to the world; and we recommit to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties.

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There have been strong feelings on both sides of this issue.

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Let’s look at Indigenous People’s Day first.  While this nation was a nation of immigrants, the Native Americans were here first.  The government of the United States has been less than honorable towards the Native Americans.  “For centuries, Indigenous Peoples were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, displaced, assimilated, and banned from worshiping or performing many sacred ceremonies.  Yet today, they remain some of our greatest environmental stewards.”

“WE” (aka the American Government) pushed Native Americans off their land - and deliberately changed their ways of life.  As immigrants came (mostly from Europe in the early days of settlement), they also brought diseases that were unknown to the Native Americans and wiped them out.  

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This past week I was in Ashland Oregon visiting my cousin.  The following is from a document from Ashland Oregon:

“In the mid-1800s, this finely tuned “hunter-gatherer” lifestyle came abruptly into contact with the agriculturally-based, land-hungry, gold-seeking, the divinely sanctioned culture of the arriving American pioneers. Unfortunately, the Native’s long-standing culture was under-appreciated and horribly misunderstood. From the settlers’ perspective, the Rogue Valley was a Mecca of gold, timber, and land barely used by the native inhabitants. To the Native Americans, the first settlers must have seemed greedy, wasteful, and spiritually misguided. With the discovery of gold in Jacksonville and the ensuing rush of settlers into the Rogue Valley, the resources that the Native Americans had managed and relied upon for so long quickly become compromised. Salmon runs were impacted by sediment and pollution brought about through gold mining, while game runs disappeared as forests were cut for timber and hungry miners shot at anything with fur. At the same time, camas meadows were destroyed by the newly arriving pigs, and tarweed patches were grazed over by cattle and sheep. Finally, entire villages were overtaken as towns such as Jacksonville and Ashland became established.”    

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This was not an isolated event.

In my former state of South Dakota, the Black Hills were taken by the American Government when gold was discovered there, displacing the Sioux (and other Native Americans) from their lands and disrupting their culture.  

Native Americans were moved onto reservations and forced to learn English, Christianity, and the White Culture.  (And, in many respects, it was well-meaning people that wanted to unite the old Native American culture with the faster-moving White culture.  “We’re doing this for your own good - eventually you will thank us”.

It was somewhat like the old “Separated but equal” aspects of post-Civil War Black/White relations.  (That were anything but equal).

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It seems to have been a long time in acknowledging Indigenous People - and also acknowledging the terrible way they have been treated.

And, if you will, Indigenous People’s Day started with Columbus Day - hailing the immigrants (and ignoring those who were already here).  

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But, onto Italian Americans

As stated in the President’s Proclamation: “Things have not always been easy; prejudice and violence often stalled the promise of equal opportunity.  In fact, Columbus Day was created by President Harrison in 1892 in response to the anti-Italian motivated lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans in 1891.  During World War II, Italian Americans were even targeted as enemy aliens.” (Two days ago, I sat with a 90-year-old Japanese American who spent two years in an internment camp in World War II)

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For years in this blog, I have said “Love Wins”.  Here are two forces that are directly opposed.  The Native American culture (and lands) were decimated by immigrants.  Might this be like Russia invading Ukraine?  It wasn’t an invasion as such - but people wanting a better life, and wanting freedom to worship, and the ability to own land.  

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Can we move forward - acknowledge that this country is both grand, and ugly (at the same time)? “We” have treated Black Americans, Native Americans, and others as less than deserving.  I have used the term “all people are made in the image and likeness of God”.  Can we let “LOVE WIN”???

Karen White, October 10, 2022, ©