RETHINKING COLUMBUS TEACHING ABOUT THE SOOTH ANNIVERSARY OF COLUMBUS S ARRIVAL IN AMERICA A SPECIAL ISSUE OF RETHINKING SCHOOLS DEDICATED TO THE CHILDREN OF THE AMERICAS Special Editors of Rethinking Columbus: Bill Bigelow, Barbara Miner, and Bob Peterson. Special thanks to Linda Christensen, David Levine, Beverly Slapin, Michael Trokan, The Guardian, Ayuda, and People's Bookstore. Rethinking Columbus was funded in part by a grant from the Resist Foundation, One Summer St., Somerville, MA 02143. The Rethinking Columbus project received funds from the North Shore Unitarian Universalist Society Veatch Program and the Anita L. Mishler Education Fund. RETHINKING Cover photo © Pat Goudvis. From the Guatemala Nifios de Esperanza COLUMBUS Calendar published by Ayuda, P.O. Box 1752, Boston, MA 02105. A special edition of Cover design and layout assistance: C.C. Brhel. Rethinking Schools published by Rethinking Schools is a quarterly publication of Rethinking Schools, Rethinking Schools, Ltd. Ltd., a non-profit tax-exempt organization. Editorial Board ofRethinking in collaboration with the Schools: Karen Desotelle, Cynthia Ellwood, David Levine, Robert Network of Educators on Lowe, Bob Peterson, and Rita Tenorio. For more information contact Central America. Rethinking Schools, 1001 E. Keefe Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53212,414- 964-9646. Subscription rates for Rethinking Schools are $10 yr/indi- vidual; $25/institutional. The Network of Educators on Central America provides resources and conducts tours on Central America. They have produced extensive curriculum on Central America and the Caribbean. NECA can be con- tacted at 1118 22nd St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20037,202429-0137. Advisory Committee of the Rethinking Columbus project Paula Gunn Allen, Joseph Bruchac, Olivia Cadaval, Francisco Cali, Jan Carew, Kassahun Checole, Jan Elliott, Cynthia Ellwood, William Fletcher, Jr., Mary Hatwood Futrell, Maria Garza Lubeck, Emma Gonzalez, Phil TajitsuNash,HarrietRohmer,andMauriceSykes. For more information on Rethinking Columbus workshops write, Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Columbus, 1233 ME Schuyler #4, Portland, OR 97212. ISBN #0-942961-14-5 © 1991, Rethinking Schools, Ltd. First Edition, 30,000 copies Ordering information for Rethinking Columbus is on the inside of the back cover. Reprint rights: People may reprint excerpts from this pamphlet for use in educational settings. No prior approval is necessary. Reprinting for publication requires prior approval. "Let us put our heads together and see what life we will make for our children." Tatanka lotanka (Sitting Bull, Lakota) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY ARTICLES Introduction: Why Rethink Columbus? 3 Columbus Day, by Jimmie Durham (Poem) 59 "We Have No Reason to Celebrate an Invasion," Indians Fight Modern Conquistadores, Interview with Suzan Shown Harjo 4 by Deborah Menkart 60 Discovering Columbus, Re-reading the Past, Rigoberta Menchii 6 by Bill Bigelow 6 James Bay: Cree and Inuit Defend Lands 62 America to Indians: Stay in the 19th Century, Our Land, Our Life 63 by Jan Elliott 10 Indian Singing in 20th Century America, Thanking the Birds, by Joseph Bruchac 11 by Gail Tremblay (Poem) 64 The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ISSUES by Leonel Rugama (Poem) 65 Why I Am Not Thankful for Thanksgiving, Textbook Crimes, by CURE 66 by Michael Dorris 12 The Danger of "Harmless" School Mascots 67 Indian Children Speak, by Juanita Bell (Poem) 14 Native Americans: What Not to Teach, BACKGROUND/CONTEXT by June Sark Heinrich 15 African-Americans: Mourn the Quincentenary, Columbus in the Elementary Classroom, by Bill Fletcher, Jr 68 by Bob Peterson 16 "If I Had Five Minutes To Spend With Students," Helping Children Critique Columbus Books 19 Interview with LaDonna Harris 71 Native Land Rights: A Role Play, by Jane Califf 21 La Raza: Product of Two Conquests, Scalping 22 by Andres Guerrero 72 Once Upon a Genocide, by Bill Bigelow 23 Birth of the Mestizo 73 What Do You Mean, You Haven't Read Let's Leave Columbus Behind, by Hans Koning 74 the Wilder Books? by Doris Scale 26 George Washington, Speculator in Native Lands 75 Alphabet of Native Contributions 31 Maps: Take Europe Off Center Stage, by W. Kaiser ....76 The Untold Story, by Tina Thomas 32 Rethinking Terminology, And Then I Went To School, by Joe Suina 34 by Phil Tajitsu Nash and Emilienne Ireland 77 The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee, by N. Scott Momaday (Poem) 37 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS Timeline: Spain, Columbus, Native Americans 78 SECONDARY SCHOOL ISSUES For the Love of Gold, by Christopher Columbus 81 Talking Back to Columbus, by Bill Bigelow 38 The Spanish Fight for Justice in the Indies, Iroquois Contribution to the Constitution 44 by Bartolome de las Casas 82 Loo Wit, by Wendy Rose (Poem) 45 Land of the Spotted Eagle, by Luther Standing Bear ...84 Bones of Contention, by Tony Hillerman 46 $3000 Death Song, by Wendy Rose (Poem) 47 RESOURCES, REFERENCES Spokane Museum, by Ramona Wilson (Poem) 47 Resource Guide 85 Halfbreed Girl in the City School, Curriculum 85 by Jo Whitehorse Cochran (Poem) 48 Elementary Books 86 It is Important, by Gail Tremblay (Poem) 49 Secondary Books 87 Native Women in the Circle of Life, Original Sources 87 by Paula Gunn Allen 50 Books for Adults 88 The Sacred Circle, by Black Elk 51 Audiovisual 89 Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko (Poem) 52 Publications 89 Myths that Bind Us, by Linda Christensen 53 Maps, Posters, etc 89 Organizations 90 CONTEMPORARY STRUGGLES Teaching Guide 92 Struggles Unite Native Peoples, Poets' Biographies 95 Interview with Chief Tayac 56 Actionldeas ,...95 PAGE 2 RETHINKING SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDITION Why Rethink Columbus? INTRODUCTION Why rethink Christopher Columbus? Because color: women, working class people, the poor. A understanding relationships between society and the Columbus myth is basic to children's beliefs number of selections in Rethinking Columbus nature. Even the very words used by different about society. For many youngsters the tale of draw attention to how this happens and suggest cultures to describe the natural world are sug- Columbus introduces them to a history of this ways to enlist students in a broader critique. gestive: compare the West's "environment" —- country, even to history itself. The "discovery of Columbus is dead, but his legacy is not. "Con- something which surrounds us — to native America" is children's first curricular exposure sidering the beauty of the land, it could not be peoples' "Mother Earth" — she who gives us to the encounter between two cultures and to the but that there was gain to be got," Columbus life, native views of the earth challenge students encounter between two races. As such, a study wrote in 1492. From the ecologically devastat- to locate new worlds of ecological hope. of Columbus is really a study about us — how ing James Bay hydro-power project in Quebec, Through critiquing textbook and other tradi- we think about each other, our country, and our to the poisonous chemical dumps of Louisiana, tional accounts of Columbus's voyages, stu- relations with people around the world. to the massive clear cutting of ancient forests in dents can begin to discover the excitement that The Columbus myth teaches children which Central and South America, Columbus's ex- comes from asserting oneself morally and intel- voices to listen for as they go out into the world ploitative spirit lives on — with a vengeance. lectually —refusing to be passive consumers of — and whose to ignore. Pick up a children's Likewise, the slave system Columbus intro- "official" stories. And this is as true for fourth book on Columbus: See Chris; see Chris talk; duced to this hemisphere was ultimately over- graders as it is for juniors in high school. They see Chris grow up, have ideas, have feelings. In thrown, but not the calculus that weighs human can continue to renew and deepen this personal these volumes, the native peoples of the Carib- lives in terms of private profit. awakening as they seek out other curricular bean, the "discovered," don't think or feel. And silences and sources of knowledge. thus children begin a scholastic journey that Contemporary Resistance We hope Rethinking Columbus begins to encourages them to disregard the perspectives, We've featured essays and interviews that suggest a relationship between the critical and the very humanity, of people of color. underscore contemporary resistance to the spirit collaborative classrooms described in the In Rethinking Columbus we've tried to fill of Columbus. It's vital we don't approach these booklet's articles and a movement to discover some of these silences. Our goal was not to issues as if to say, "That was horrible. Glad —or, more accurately, to invent—anew world. idealize native people and demonize Europe- we're all done with it." We believe children These new ways of teaching and learning can ans, or present a depressing litany of victimiza- need to be inspired by the knowledge that, while indicate that, as Barry Lopez writes, "five hun- tion. We wanted to encourage a deeper under- injustice persists, so does the struggle for hu- dred years later, we intend to mean something standing of the European invasion's conse- manity and the environment. else in the world." Rethinking and reconstruct- quences, honor the rich legacy of resistance to In a very real sense, most of us are living on ing the way students and teachers understand the injustices it created, and convey some appre- stolen land. However, this knowledge must not today's society is cause for celebration. ciation for the diverse cultures of the original be used to make white children feel guilty. There From the beginning, we knew that time and inhabitants of the hemisphere. Our goal in Re- is nothing students can do to change history. space constraints as well as our own social thinking Columbus is not to present "two sides," And they should not feel responsible for what blinders would silence some voices that need to but to tell the part of the story that has been others did before they were born.