NC State’s Native American Student Affairs hosted 1490 Who?, a forum where college professors discussed the issues around changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Monday at Talley Student Union.
Keith Richotte Jr., an assistant professor of American studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, spoke on the life of indigenous peoples today and their portrayal in media.
One point Richotte focused on heavily was “the idea of the Indian.” He describes it as a caricature of the indigenous peoples.
“Until we root this guy up, we’re going to continue to be in this difficult situation,” Richotte said.
Richotte stated that United States citizens know very little about both the history of the indigenous peoples and how they live today.
“We don’t see natives as contemporary human beings; everyone knows who the Indian is, but that’s an idea,” Richotte said.
The speakers sought to express more than just the renaming of a day. They told a tale of a people who are often ignored or misrepresented in today’s American society.
“To commemorate Columbus Day means to deny the genocide of indigenous peoples that Columbus initiated while celebrating its consequences,” said Judy Kertész, an assistant History professor at NC State.
Kertész spoke on recent disputes about the use of the word “genocide” in describing the interaction between colonists and the indigenous peoples. Kertész also discussed the loss of language and religion that the indigenous peoples have experienced, as well as the raping and assault committed against them by the colonists.
All of the speakers stressed that although the colonization occurred so long ago, the way the events are treated in American culture is still important today.
“I think it’s a good thing when we turn our back on colonialism,” said Jay Hansford C. Vest, a professor of American Indian studies at UNC-Pembroke.
Vest described what life was like for the indigenous peoples before the arrival of colonists on the American continents.
“What I really try to show is the rich nature of [the indigenous peoples’] cultures,” Vest said. “Their presence has been much longer than people thought. These were rich and complex cultures here before the Europeans got here.”
Vest spoke of engineering feats that the indigenous people accomplished long before the colonists. These include utilizing passive solar heating in order to control temperatures in houses and the invention of goggles.
As a call on the audience to further their knowledge on the indigenous people Richotte asked, “Where have we gotten our information, and how have we learned about them?”
Richotte provided an answer to his own question, rooting it in education and a desire to understand the issue.
“In order to get people to understand that the issues that have been going on remain, […] it’s going to take a lot of education and a lot of work to address the underlying issues in the law that continue to affect how native people live and exist today,” Richotte said.
