October 12, 2001

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Columbus Day

by Jimmie Durham, Cherokee

In school I was taught the names

Columbus, Cortez, and Pizzaro and

A dozen other filthy murderers.

A bloodline all the way to General Miles,

Daniel Boone and general Eisenhower.

No one mentioned the names

Of even a few of the victims.

But don't you remember Chaske, whose spine

Was crushed so quickly by Mr. Pizzaro's boot?

What words did he cry into the dust?

What was the familiar name

Of that young girl who danced so gracefully

That everyone in the village sang with her—

Before Cortez' sword hacked off her arms

As she protested the burning of her sweetheart?

That young man's name was Many Deeds,

And he had been a leader of a band of fighters

Called the Redstick Hummingbirds, who slowed

The march of Cortez' army with only a few

Spears and stones which now lay still

In the mountains and remember.

Greenrock Woman was the name

Of that old lady who walked right up

And spat in Columbus' face.

We must remember that, and remember

Laughing Otter the Taino who tried to stop

Columbus and who was taken away as a slave.

We never saw him again.

In school I learned of heroic discoveries

Made by liars and crooks. The courage

Of millions of sweet and true people

Was not commemorated.

Let us then declare a holiday

For ourselves, and make a parade that begins

With Columbus' victims and continues

Even to our grandchildren who will be named

In their honor.

Because isn't it true that even the summer

Grass here in this land whispers those names,

And every creek has accepted the responsibility

Of singing those names? And nothing can stop

The wind from howling those names around

The corners of the school.

Why else would the birds sing

So much sweeter here than in other lands?

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