Menu Close

Articles on Columbus Day

Displaying all articles

The first encounters between European settlers and Native Americans are captured on a wood engraving in this 1888 image. DigitalVision Vectors

Indigenous Peoples Day offers a reminder of Native American history − including the scalping they endured at the hands of Colonists

Popular culture often describes scalping − the forceful removing of a person’s scalp − as an indigenous practice. But white settlers accelerated this form of violence against Native Americans.
A float featuring Christopher Columbus makes its way down Fifth Avenue during the 75th annual Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 14, 2019, in New York. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

How Columbus Day contributes to the cultural erasure of Italian Americans

Given Italian history, U.S. descendants of Italian immigrants have reason to reject their association with Columbus and stand in solidarity with indigenous groups as they reclaim their histories.
A makeshift memorial for the Indigenous children who died more than a century ago while attending a boarding school, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File

‘Truth and Healing Commission’ could help Native American communities traumatized by government-run boarding schools that tried to destroy Indian culture

For Indigenous Peoples Day, a scholar of Native American studies explains why understanding the tragic history of Indian boarding schools is important for healing to take place.
Agricultural Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1893. University of Maryland Digital Collections

How Columbus, of all people, became a national symbol

An anthropologist tells the story of how Columbus actually came close to falling into historical obscurity, until American hubris got in the way.

Top contributors

More