Native American students to demonstrate on Quad for Columbus Day
Legacies of Columbus
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Grant Auditorium
Cost: Free and open to the public
When members of Native American Students at Syracuse demonstrate on the Quad Monday, their intention won’t be to bash Christopher Columbus, but to tell a part of history often left out of grade school history books.
‘We always learn of Columbus as being this great explorer who found the new world,’ said Alex Jimerson, president of NASAS and a senior public health major. ‘You don’t get the other part of the story in terms of what he did when he got here — killing and enslaving indigenous people. I learned that side from my parents.’
Jimerson, who is from the Cattaraugus Reservation, south of Buffalo, wants to use the federal holiday as an opportunity to celebrate indigenous survival and to raise awareness for threats past and present, rather than to focus on Columbus alone.
The day will include a demonstration from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Quad and a panel discussion, ‘Legacies of Columbus,’ Monday night at 7 p.m. in Grant Auditorium.
The panel will look at the different parties affected by Columbus — not just natives and Europeans, but new peoples that came into existence, said Scott Lyons, director of the Native American studies minor. Conversation will also focus on Central and South America and issues dealing with border disputes and immigration, Lyons said.
Students on the Quad will wear T-shirts and hand out index cards with political cartoons satirizing Columbus as a heroic legend. Members of the group wanted to incorporate a sense of humor into the event, which has previously had a more serious tone, Jimerson said.
‘This year we wanted more of a party atmosphere,’ he said. The T-shirts they will distribute say, ‘Celebrating indigenous survival since 1492’ on the front and ‘Party like it’s 1491’ on the back.
Ira Huff, a sophomore history major from Tonawanda Reservation near Buffalo, said he wants Syracuse University’s demonstration to bring visibility to native students at SU.
‘We’re not discriminated against, which is good. But we’re not really recognized, which is bad,’ Huff said.
There are approximately 160 native students at SU, Huff said.
‘By doing this, we can show people that we are part of this campus, and we are part of this community, and we’re growing within the larger campus,’ Huff said.
Members of NASAS come from different areas and tribes, but on Monday they will show solidarity for the Haudenosaunee people, the preferred name of the Iroquois people, of Onondaga Nation.
Jeannne Shenandoah, a member of Onondaga Nation, said for her, the image of Columbus is ‘an image of invasion’ and one that is present for her people today.
‘We have a very small piece of land left,’ Shenandoah said. ‘Central New York was, at one time, our homeland, and the state does not want to recognize it. But take a look around here, everything around us is named Onondaga — valley, county, lake.’
Onondaga Nation, located five miles away from SU, down Interstate 81 South, was recently in a legal battle with New York state over land rights. A judge threw out Onondaga Nation’s claim suit Sept. 23.
Debate also continues over cigarette taxes. Onondaga and other tribes say taxing their nations’ cigarette sales violates sovereignty rights, while the state maintains its right to tax cigarettes sold to state residents.
The hope, Huff and Jimerson agreed, is that the discussion of present and past issues facing native people will continue beyond Monday. They’ll hold events throughout November, which is National Native American Heritage Month.
‘Tomorrow’s not just about Columbus or colonization, it’s about our history and the fact that we’re still here,’ Huff said. ‘All that negative stuff isn’t going to bring us down.’
Published on October 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm
