The Women Who Upstaged Columbus
by Michael Kluznik
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
There are reasons to join in the 1992 Columbus
Quincentenary Celebration, which will mark the 500th anniversary
of Columbus' landing in the New World and the birth of Western
civilization's Age of Exploration.
A reason not to join the celebration is that the European
colonization following Columbus' voyages came at great expense to
Native Americans.
Columbus was the first to enslave Native Americans. Early
European attitudes were reflected by Pope Innocent III: in 1536
he issued an edict that said while it was possible Indians had
souls, Indians who did not accept Catholicism did not have souls.
The military was therefore free to do with them as they wished,
with God's blessing.
Numerous groups object to the quincentenary. Even so, it
is certain that the celebration will take place. Before the party
begins, organizers and participants might at least wish to
acknowledge the cultural and human genocide that was visited on
indigenous peoples by Columbus and by later Europeans. 1992 would
also be an appropriate time to celebrate the real discovery of
America by a prehistoric tribe from Asia.
Recent research in genetics indicates that nearly all
American Indians are descendants of a single band of pioneers who
walked across a land bridge from Asia on what is now the Bering
Strait. The vast majority of American Indian descended from four
women in that original migrating group 15,000 to 30,000 years
ago. Their descendants make up 95% of American Indians including
Mayans, Incas and most North American Indians. (Exceptions are
the Eskimos, Aleuts, Apaches, Navajos and a few other groups that
arrived later.)
In 1992 we will no doubt witness scaled-down replicas of
the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria retracing Columbus' famous
voyage. Likewise, Native Americans should use 1992 to stage a
reenactment of the event that saw the first humans set foot in
the New World.
In addition to the four young women, that small band of
ancient travelers would have included several young men, elders,
children and babies. They may have been on a spiritual quest,
looking for food or escaping from enemies. Perhaps they were just
curious. They would have carried animal skin tents, hunting
weapons and fire making tools. A child carrying a fur blanket or
a toy may have headed this procession as it made its way into the
New World.
The Bering Strait freezes during the winter. A crossing
over the ice in early 1992 would upstage Columbus celebrations
that will peak later in the year. Such an event would emphasize
family values in a way the quincentenary would never do. It would
show that human settlement of the Americas had a humble yet noble
beginning, led by a nomadic clan.
I like this story better than the one that says America
got its start because Columbus and his crew of mal-contents
accidentally stumbled upon it during a failed trip to India.
Surely, the story of the American civilization is something more
than an Italian explorer running errands for Spanish royalty in
need of exotic spices to cover up the taste of rancid meat that
spoiled too quickly in the hot Mediterranean sun.
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Michele Lord * Walk in Peace with
(milo@scicom.alphacdc.com) * our Mother Earth
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