Editorial : Columbus Day marks time to learn about lives of indigenous people of today

Walking across the Quad on Monday, students, faculty and staff will see the annual Columbus Day demonstration held by local and student indigenous groups.  

With nice weather predicted for Monday, take a minute to talk to the students and demonstrators, look through their literature and reflect on how much you know about Native Americans living in the United States today.

For many of us, Columbus Day was taught as a day of celebration. Certainly, most of us are grateful for America’s discovery, or else our lives would have been very different. But the myths and mystique surrounding Christopher Columbus should be coupled with a hard dose of reality — that millions of indigenous peoples were wiped out in the wake of colonialism and American expansion.

More important than reflecting on past atrocities is understanding the realities of the present. How much do you know about the state of Native American reservations, their education systems, their culture and their governance?

Using Columbus Day as a time to recognize the history of Native Americans does not diminish our patriotism. Rather, learning about the state of indigenous peoples today deepens our knowledge of this essential part of the American fabric and makes us more informed citizens.

The names of local towns, streets and waterways, and even Onondaga County derive from indigenous words. Many students have no idea their trip to Turning Stone Casino means entering the Onondaga Indian Nation and interacting with its economy. Simply, we should know more about the reservations and their people than cheap gas and cigarettes.