![#IndigenousPeoplesDay Is Trending To Combat Columbus](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.vibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/indigenous-peoples-day-2017-vibe-1507561039.jpg?w=910&h=511&crop=1)
As natives from Dominica to Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands continue to reel from hurricanes Irma and Maria, Donald J. Trump officially proclaims October 9, 2017 as the day of Christopher Columbus, the same evil colonizer who centuries ago not only ravaged the Caribbean for its gold and natural resources, but also mass murdered and enslaved its original peoples.
“The permanent arrival of Europeans to the Americas was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally changed the course of human history and set the stage for the development of our great Nation,” reads the press release live on WhiteHouse.gov. “Therefore, on Columbus Day, we honor the skilled navigator and man of faith, whose courageous feat brought together continents and has inspired countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions—even in the face of extreme doubt and tremendous adversity.”
Columbus no doubt changed the course of human history as he totally wiped out the Taino and Arawak peoples of Caribbean nations like present-day Puerto Rico and Haiti/Dominican Republic, before signing off on shipping African peoples to the New World and setting up the infrastructure for what would later become known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
On Monday morning, many took to social media in response to the now-regional holiday of Columbus Day, turning #IndigenousPeoplesDay into a trending topic. Here’s some of what’s being shared in the face of what would otherwise continue to be celebrated as an ahistorical holiday:
Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay
Remember that we are resilient,courageous & beautiful. pic.twitter.com/HbMddY4S3J
— indigenous beauty (@IndigenBeauty) October 9, 2017
There is an entire history and countless cultures we overlook from our past.
Please explore and educate yourself on #IndigenousPeoplesDay. pic.twitter.com/0Qerhv028B
— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) October 9, 2017
We are beautiful. #IndigenousPeoplesDay pic.twitter.com/7Me8Pz27el
— Spoo(ky) (@PhatIcon) October 9, 2017
As a person of Italian descent, I support #IndigenousPeoplesDay over #ColumbusDay because I don’t celebrate genocidal slave traders.
— Andre Tarulli (@andre_tarulli) October 9, 2017
We should all take a moment today to understand the unfathomable losses Native Americans withstood on this soil. #IndigenousPeoplesDay
— David Scharf 👍 (@misterscharf) October 9, 2017
We won’t honor a mass murderer. We stand w/ 55 cities passing #IndigenousPeoplesDay resolution#AbolishColumbusDayhttps://t.co/XOSDUq9xxu pic.twitter.com/648Il4YYue
— OverpassLightBrigade (@OLBLightBrigade) October 9, 2017
When they DNA studied the Taino, they could not trace ancestry back to Taino males bc Europeans killed them all #IndigenousPeoplesDay pic.twitter.com/7fTjY4XPdl
— Molina (@bluemazatl) October 9, 2017
Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay! [two Native elders speaking to the press during a Poor People’s Campaign event in Washington, DC, 1968] pic.twitter.com/hYuXYmVUxQ
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 9, 2017
A great way to celebrate #IndigenousPeoplesDay tomorrow would be to learn who originally lived on the land you occupy.
That honors them.— Kaitlin Curtice (@KaitlinCurtice) October 8, 2017
End the myth of Columbus #SinkingColumbus #IndigenousPeoplesDay @AmericanIndian8 @marty_walsh . pic.twitter.com/Ya9jhaJuBv
— Susan Redlich (@confiable) October 8, 2017
NYC — Join us as we co-host a Reading for Disaster Relief on #IndigenousPeoplesDay (10/9) at 8pm. More info via https://t.co/JqK6dvFrpG pic.twitter.com/JML6fUxTQA
— Latinx Poetry (@CantoMundo) October 5, 2017