Native group provides twist on Columbus Day

People around the country celebrated Columbus Day in various ways on October 13, but members of a Bay Area group called the Indigenous Peoples Day Committee spent October 12 doing something different: they celebrated the Native American communities and culture in Berkeley.

The group hosted a cultural gathering, or pow-wow, at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park, where non-Indians were invited to connect with Native Americans and learn more about their culture. Participants formed a circle as they watched mixed exhibits that included dancing, singing, and synchronous drumbeats that blasted through speakers. Their outfits featured exotic colors, feathered hats, and various furs, coyote skins being an example.

An art vibe was evident at the festival as mothers dressed their sons and daughters in costumes affiliated with tribes as they threw around a football in the draining heat.

A large parachute lay in the middle of the grass that read ‘defend mother earth and stop colonialism,’ as a woman spoke the tales of nature walks.

The presence of various cultures was also a sight to see as members of tribes embraced residents from the area.

“We are a committee of local Native and non-Native people. We call ourselves the Indigenous Peoples Day Committee,” said John Curl, a member of the committee.

At its outset in 1992, the Bay Area was chosen to celebrate the 500th year anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. It was supposed to be a remarkable display of replica ships sailing across the Golden Gate, according to the Indigenous Peoples Day website.

Berkeley’s city council searched for advice and ultimately set up a task force to make recommendations regarding the planning of the event. They found that Columbus’ expedition was not a scientific voyage, but rather a scheme for imperialism.

Consequently, Columbus is no longer honored; instead the focal point of the celebration places an emphasis on Native American customs and its resistance to the European invasion, according to the committee’s website.

“It’s not just about all about Columbus’ so-called ‘finding America,’” said Chris Segura, a resident of Fresno, Calif. who is of Native American descent and has been a participant in the event for the past three years. “There was already Native people here in these lands before any explorer, sailor, or anybody even came close to this area.”

Some of the tribes present included the Chumash, California Natives, Comanches, and Pechanga to name a few. They traveled from regions like Oklahoma and Temecula Calif., according to Segura.

Among the issues that were reiterated at the event, was what they called the continuous battle that the United States government has ongoing with these Native cultures.

“The United States government came and took all the Indian land and territory and then allowed them to live in reservations or allocated land and had a number of different government policies to try to get rid of the ‘Indian problem,’” said Bridget Neconie, assistant director of Native American Community Relations at UC Berkeley.

“The government is always trying to eliminate their responsibility to the tribal people that are still alive today.”

“Native Americans have experienced a loss of identity,” said Segura— “second, third, and fourth generation Indians who work in cities have lost their language, customs, and cultures” he stated. “You just kind of blend in with everyone else,” said Segura. “It teaches you to respect each other as a human being and to respect everybody else’s beliefs, cultures, and customs,” he added.

During the last couple of years, this particular day on the calendar has been under scrutiny because of what has been documented with Columbus.

Millions died because of infectious diseases that included influenza and smallpox, slavery was introduced, and Native people were mutilated and sometimes tortured, as noted in the Indigenous Peoples Day website.

To this day, Columbus Day is still a federal holiday. He shares the honor of having a day of remembrance with other famous figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and George Washington, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.