The real Columbus is more interesting than history's sanitized version

What became of Columbus Day?

A generation ago, Columbus Day (Oct. 10) was one of the major holidays of the year. It was the one day off from school in October. It was commem- orated in the way that we recognize our favorite holidays – with a sale.

Now it is certainly not a day off from school – and it is one of the many holidays where most of us are not sure what is open or closed – or what we are supposed to be celebrating.

When I was in elementary school, many years ago, we were enthralled by tales of the great explorer who “discovered” America. One of the ironies is that Columbus never touched North America and insisted to his dying day that he had not “discovered” anything – except, as he intended, a trade route to Asia.

He followed known trade winds, and even had maps and charts (obviously written by earlier navigators) that led him to the islands south of Florida, San Salvador and Hispaniola in particular.

He was far from the first explorer, or even the first European. The Vikings, and some scholars say, the Irish, were there decades, if not centuries before. Some even say that the Chinese had contact with North and South America well before Columbus. There is ample documentation that the Chinese had pre-Columbian contact with India, Africa and even Egypt, so it is not too much of a stretch to consider early American contact from Asia.

Columbus was also far from original in his belief that the Earth was round – the ancient Greeks knew not only that the Earth must be round, but they had a very close estimate as to its size.

Columbus had the advantage of far better “marketing” thanks to Gutenberg’s newly developed printing press – and royal sponsorship of his journeys.

There were also the natives, of course, on the islands and in well-established tribal (and inter-tribal) communities across North America. Some native cities in South America were far larger and more sophisticated than any in Europe at the time. And some South American cities, far older than “the eternal city” of Rome were already in ancient ruins by the time the Spanish got there.

The Arawaks, the first tribe Columbus encountered in October 1492, faced almost immediate extinction due to murder, disease and enslavement.

I kind of miss the simplified children’s version that I grew up with. It led me to believe that history was simple and clear, that European civilization was inherently triumphant, and that other, particularly native cultures, should “make way” for us.

As I’ve studied these things, and worked with native people, I’ve learned that history is vastly more complicated; Columbus was not as heroic – or as evil – as he has been portrayed, Western European cultural dominance is far from assured, and though native people may be beyond even the peripheral vision of most of us, many native cultures are remarkably intact and are still fighting to protect and preserve their territorial, political or religious rights.

This contradictory, ambiguous and complex Columbus is far more interesting and appealing to me than the sanitized version. We have the choice between the two-dimensional hero who struts across the stage of history or someone who is much more like one of us.

Columbus Day seems to be meeting the fate of some of our other holidays. Many people mix up Labor Day and Memorial Day and have long forgotten what they stand for, except for barbecues and the benchmarks for the beginning and ending of summer.

Every year, Columbus Day gets dimmer and earns a smaller font on my calendar. Perhaps it is for the best that we don’t celebrate Columbus Day as we used to.

M. Morford (Morf) of Tacoma is a former reader columnist. Email him at mmorf@mail.com.