by Isabell Retamoza
As a child in the church, I heard stories from the pulpit and in Sunday school that formed my faith. Biblical stories about justice and loyalty, about people doing what was right and kind affected me most. These stories instilled in me the ability to recognize what is right and just in this world.
Outside of the Bible, one of my favorite stories as a child was one about my own family.
From my father’s side, I am a Cherokee Native American. My grandmother told me the stories of the Cherokee people–how our family walked the Trail of Tears from our ancestral lands to what is now Cherokee Nation in Northeastern Oklahoma. She said the European settlers took our land and forced our ancestors on a 2,000-mile death march during the frigid winter.
Because of my ancestors’ perseverance, I am alive to tell this story. I am the fruit of their effort to survive, and so is their story. From my family stories and other Native stories, my interpretation of American history was different from some of my school classmates.
Sailed the ocean blue
One story that conflicts me is the one behind the federal holiday Columbus Day, which many in the United States observe today. Since 1934, this holiday has commemorated Christopher Columbus “discovering America.”
In elementary school, we were taught the story with a rhyme, “In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” As a child, I didn’t have a voice to speak to the myth that masked the horrific truth. The Columbus story erased the fact of discrimination, violence, and genocide for Native people in the United States and all the Americas.
Columbus Day is a celebration of European colonization of the Americas and leaves out the cost incurred by the Native Americans. (See box below.)
People should hear our story
Leaving Native people’s stories out of the history of the United States has resulted in the belief that our people are extinct. Yes, almost 95 percent of Native populations and nations were wiped out in the first 200 years of European contact. More than five million Native people live in the U.S. today, and we deserve our story told.
Our erasure contributes to continued violence and injustice. We must teach the next generation the true story of how Native people survived and remain here in the United States today.
To bring this truth to light, many have called to change the federal holiday of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Since 1992, at least six states and 130 cities and towns have now renamed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, according to the New York Times.
The federal act of changing the name Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day would memorialize the diseases, massacres, and forced assimilation suffered by Native American people at the hands of European invaders. It would honor and celebrate the stories we pass down to future generations.
Conversation of healing
A new name for Columbus Day—Indigenous Peoples’ Day—could start a conversation of healing for Native people.
The wound caused by genocide and colonization can only begin to heal by telling the truth of our history and how it began. Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that truth, while also celebrating and honoring Native people.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day tells a story of survival, family, love, and faith and that these sacred lands have an indigenous future.
Isabell Retamoza graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a bachelor’s degree in literature and feminist studies. A second generation Lutheran and Cherokee Native American and Mexican American, she volunteers at Trinidad Lutheran Church in Chicago.
Feature photo: Map of the route of the Trails of Tears—depicting the route taken to relocate Native Americans from the Southeastern United States between 1836 and 1839. The forced march of Cherokee removal from the Southeastern United States for forced relocation to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The map is in the public domain
At the 2017 Women of Triennial Convention, voting members affirmed the ELCA’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery and encouraged participants and leaders to educate themselves about the statement and its negative impact on Native people in North America by using resources to be developed by the ELCA Domestic Mission unit. Synodical women’s organzations were encouraged to develop relationships with American Indians and/or Alaskan Native ministries with or near their synods.