Indians in Kansas town want Columbus Day name changed
Keep the day. Dump the Columbus.
That’s long been the rallying cry at Haskell Indian Nations University each year as Columbus Day — which is Monday — approaches.
But now, Haskell students want city commissioners to also shine a spotlight on the subject. Members of Haskell’s American Indian Studies Club have asked city commissioners to proclaim Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, instead of celebrating it as Columbus Day.
“It (the holiday) is in essence celebrating our genocide instead of celebrating our survival,” said Willow Bonga, a Haskell student and club member. “It was a time when it decimated our populations and brought the natives to the ground. It only was by our pure strength that we were able to rise up and still be in existence today.”
Read entire article at Lawrence Journal World & News (KS)
That’s long been the rallying cry at Haskell Indian Nations University each year as Columbus Day — which is Monday — approaches.
But now, Haskell students want city commissioners to also shine a spotlight on the subject. Members of Haskell’s American Indian Studies Club have asked city commissioners to proclaim Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, instead of celebrating it as Columbus Day.
“It (the holiday) is in essence celebrating our genocide instead of celebrating our survival,” said Willow Bonga, a Haskell student and club member. “It was a time when it decimated our populations and brought the natives to the ground. It only was by our pure strength that we were able to rise up and still be in existence today.”