Columbus Day Dissent Strengthens Solidarity Between APAs and Indigenous Peoples

By Samantha Kiyomi Witt
Special to AsianWeek

Does your calendar cite “Indigenous People’s Day” on Oct. 14? Probably not, as it is still marked as the official Columbus Day holiday.

Six hundred and ten years after Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas, celebrations continue to honor the man who brought war, colonialism and genocide to the home of Native Americans. We all know the story: in 1492, Columbus, backed by the Spanish monarch, set sail in search of goods and wealth in Asia, accidentally landing on islands currently known as Haiti, Trinidad and Cuba, among others, and finally shipwrecking in Panama. Behind him, the land and natives of the islands were left disordered and bloody, and were targeted for hundreds of years of exploitation by generations of Europeans.

Peter Nabokov, author and professor of American Indian Studies at UCLA, suggests in his book Native American Testimony: From Prophecy to the Present 1442-1992 that Columbus was in fact not the first to set eyes upon North America. Aside from the indigenous peoples of the land, Buddhist writings recount voyages from China in 458 B.C.E. Furthermore, people from Northern Asia are thought to have crossed a land bridge over what is now the Bering Strait — exploring, settling and populating the land, while migrating south.

Historically, the experiences of Asian Pacific Americans have paralleled those of Native Americans. Colonization of homelands such as the Philippines and Hawai‘i bears many similarities to the relocation and attempted assimilation of Native Americans. Both communities have faced serious institutionalized racism. As Native Americans were forced off their tribal land and into reservations, similarly Japanese Americans were interned during World War II.

Tule Lake, where many Japanese Americans were interned, was previously Native American land. Pratap Chatterjee, environmental journalist and author of the book Gold, Greed & Genocide, writes of the environmental and cultural impact of gold mining in California in the mid-1800s. Due to water contamination from mining, the fish were decimated. He says, “The wetlands were drained and converted into agricultural land. Dams were also built in 1908, destroying the fishing, which had a heavy impact on the downstream Indians … This is still a major flashpoint today and there have been major verbal clashes and protests between the farmers, government and Indians as recently as this summer.”

At Tule Lake, where Japanese Americans were forced to live in uninhabitable and inhumane conditions, only seventy years earlier, the Moduc tribe was stripped of their land and exiled into reservations, with no regard to tribal differences, causing hostility. Thus began what Chatterjee calls the “battle between the Modoc and the U.S. Government in 1872-1873 – the bloodiest and longest in California history.”

The history of Native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement draw other parallels with the struggles of Native Americans. When the first Europeans arrived in the islands in 1778, the population was at an estimated 800,000. A century later, due mostly to famine and disease, the Native Hawaiian population dwindled to approximately 40,000. The diseases European settlers brought into the Native American communities had a similarly devastating effect. The groups share one common story: an ethnic and cultural minority struggling for land and self-determination.

Due to these similarities, many APAs join in solidarity with Indigenous people. Chatterjee said, “Respect and recognition are very important. If we respect Native Americans we all can live a healthy and better life … in harmony.”

During the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island by pan-tribal Native Americans in 1969, APA supporters were documented by photographer Isago Isao Tanaka participating in the occupation, as well as aiding with food and supplies. In fact, the occupation came just after the Third World Liberation strike at UC Berkeley and the ethnic studies strike at San Francisco State, which brought together a multiracial coalition of students. An underlying goal of the Alcatraz Occupation was to speak to the public about the suffering Native Americans have endured under the hands of the federal government. “There is a necessity in linking with other communities of color — to see common histories, to bridge the communities,” Chatterjee said.

Vernon Bellecourt, director of International Affairs for the American Indian Movement articulated the continued common oppression of ethnic minorities in a recent interview, “Look at the history of degrading and demonizing people: ‘Injuns,’ ‘Redskins,’ ‘Niggers,’ ‘Kikes,’ ‘Japs,’ Krauts,’ ‘Terrorists,’ ‘Towelheads.’ You now have comedians on late night shows telling jokes about Arabs and Muslims. You demean and trivialize a people — whoever it is at the time you portray as being your enemy. That justifies your greed for land and natural resources and makes them hated or expendable.”

Catch a screening of the film version of Gold, Greed and Genocide this Saturday at The Brown Fist Collective benefit party. The party, which will also feature spoken word and musical performances, begins at 8 p.m., in Oakland. Call 510-420-1816 for more information.