MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2023 - COLUMBUS DAY???

 MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2023 - COLUMBUS DAY

Today is a multi-focus day:

In the United States, it is Columbus Day

In the United States, it is Indigenous Peoples’ Day

In Canada, it is Thanksgiving Day

And why in the world is this Hemisphere called North and South AMERICA?

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First, from a map from 1507 - the only known of supposedly 100 maps made.

“The map grew out of an ambitious project in St. Dié, France, in the early years of the 16th century, to update geographic knowledge flowing from the new discoveries of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Waldseemüller’s large world map was the most exciting product of that research effort. He included on the map data gathered by Vespucci during his voyages of 1501-1502 to the New World. Waldseemüller named the new lands “America” on his 1507 map in recognition of Vespucci’s understanding that a new continent had been uncovered following Columbus’ and subsequent voyages in the late 15th century. An edition of 1,000 copies of the large wood-cut print was reportedly printed and sold, but no other copy is known to have survived. It was the first map, printed or manuscript, to depict clearly a separate Western Hemisphere, with the Pacific as a separate ocean. The map reflected a huge leap forward in knowledge, recognizing the newly found American landmass and forever changing mankind’s understanding and perception of the world itself. (Library of Congress article)

“Like Columbus, Vespucci traveled to the New World (first in 1499 and again in 1502). Unlike Columbus, Vespucci wrote about it. Vespucci’s accounts of his travels were published between 1502 and 1504 and were widely read in Europe.”

Columbus was also hindered because he thought he had discovered another route to Asia; he didn’t realize America was a whole new continent. Vespucci, however, admitted that America was not contiguous with Asia. He was also the first to call it the New World, or Novus Mundus in Latin. (Aha - publicity wins out - Vespucci WROTE about his trips - and Columbus didn’t write as much). And, if you remember, Columbus first traveled in 1492

(Old song:)

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue,
It was a courageous thing to do
But someone was already here.
Columbus knew the world was round
So he looked for the East while westward bound,
But he didn’t find what he thought he found,
And someone was already here.

So, Columbus - an Italian sailing for Spain, thought he could discover a shortcut to the Indies (“Spice Islands” and all) and found land to the west of Europe - but thought it was part of the Indies.  

And he took gold back to Spain and was, therefore, a hero.  

(Karen adds, “Too bad Columbus - all you got was a city in Ohio named for you.”)

“Originally conceived as a celebration of Italian-American heritage, Columbus Day was first observed as a federal holiday in 1937, primarily due to lobbying by the Knights of Columbus. 

And, if you will, in 1937, when Columbus Day officially began, Columbus was still a hero. Columbus started the immigration of many Europeans to this new and mostly empty land.  

But, of course, this new land wasn’t empty - there were people already here - “Native Americans” we call them now. But, there were many tribes across this large area - from the woods and forests of New England to the vast Great Plains with horse-riding Sioux (and other tribes).  

“In 2021, President Joe Biden proclaimed on Indigenous Peoples’ Day that his administration will continue to uphold its “solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties.”

“According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, approximately 95 percent of the Native American population was wiped out 130 years after Europeans landed in the Americas.

The new settlers (1607 for Jamestown, and 1620 for Plymouth Rock) and earlier for Mexico and Central and South America brought Europeans diseases that wiped out many Native Americans as well as persecuted them (The expression “The only good injun is a dead injun”), moved them, put them on reservations, and mistreated them. 

So, Native Americans took offense at the honoring of the vile “invaders” and worked to establish “Indigenous Peoples Day.” 

So, today, we honor both the invaders, the Italian Americans, and the Native Americans - and maybe throw dirt on Columbus - who didn’t know better, and the courageous people who were already here.  

And, as for Canadians - the fourth Thursday in November is generally past the harvest for the northern land of Canada - so the second Monday in October serves as their Thanksgiving.

All of us should be Canadians today - giving THANKS for our heritage even if some of our ancestors were not the good and Godly people we want to think they were!!!

We all have a heritage. Some families have horse thieves, bank robbers, robber barons, gun-slingers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and other evil people in their heritage.  

Like my ancestors, I could be better. I am judgmental. I don’t love as much as I should. I need to be more loving and forgiving.  

Maybe I am celebrating “America - the great melting pot of humanity” today.  

I’m going to sing God Bless America today:

God bless America, land that I love

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night, with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies

To the oceans white with foam

God bless America, my home, sweet home.

LOVE WINS - HELP ME TO BE MORE LOVING

LOVE TRANSFORMS - HELP ME TO BE DIFFERENT TO BE LOVING

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, OCTOBER 9, 2023