To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate

Mrs. Madrigal

Columbus Day

• Here in the United States we celebrate Columbus Day on October 12, or the closest Monday.– This day commemorates the day when Italian Christopher

Columbus (he was born Cristoforo Colombo but was known by the Spanish as Cristóbal Colón) landed in the “New World.”

• Christopher made this trip because Europeans wanted to trade goods with people in Asia, but it was dangerous and difficult to travel around the tip of Africa to reach countries such as India, China, Japan, and the East Indies.

– The Spanish Queen Isabel and King Fernando provided ships and money for the voyage.

– The three ships that made this voyage where the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria

What They Thought The World Looked Like• The Europeans were trying to find a quicker route from Europe

to Asia. They thought that traveling west, Asia would be right around the corner.

SpainSpainAsiaAsia

No Indies for Chris!

• Christopher did not land in the Indies like he had planned (hoped).

• He landed in the Bahamas inhabited by the Taino or Arawak tribe, but he thought this was in the East Indies.

What About the Other Side of the Story?

• On October 12th in Latin America, Dia de la Raza is celebrated instead of Columbus Day.– October 12th symbolizes the beginning of the occupation

of the Spanish in Latin America.• Along with the Spanish comes language (that’s why you

speak Spanish and not Nahuatl), government, customs, values, religion (that’s why the official religion of Mexico is Catholicism *monotheistic vs. polytheistic*), disease, sickness, destruction, slavery, etc.

Great – Spanish Lovers

• Some people in Latin America (Mexico specifically) believe this to be a great day in history. For example, Mexican president Porfirio Díaz, who remained in power for over thirty years and was a great admirer of European culture, especially the French celebrated the holiday and believed it to be good.

• The government prepared a celebration of "The communion of all peoples in sentiments of justice and admiration for the past, noble aspirations and glowing hopes for the future" for October 12, 1892.

OK – Mestizo Lovers/Mixture of Spanish and Indigenous• In 1918, philosopher Antonio Caso took October 12th as an

opportunity to praise the "Mexican mestizo race", La Raza, the rich mixture of Spanish and indigenous cultures which characterizes us. He was perhaps the first to coin the term La Raza, which has now been adopted by Latinos from all across the continent.

• Caso believed that out of the destruction, sickness, and subjection that the Spanish brought to Latin America, there was a new race that was born: A MESTIZO RACE– This is a mixture of Spanish and Indigenous blood.– Celebrates cultural diversity.

Bad – Spanish Haters

• There has always been a controversy surrounding Columbus’ landing in the “New World” some people view this day as the beginning of the destruction and defamation of a beautiful and unique indigenous race.

• As early as 1836, Oaxacan historian Don Carlos María de Bustamante began the "first vitriolic Mexican commentary on the Columbian event". For him, October 12, 1492 was "the most villainous day there could ever be in America; the day its slavery was established".

What do you think?

1. Knowing what you know now, do you think that Columbus Day is a good, ok, or bad holiday? (THE WAY PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES CELEBRATE IT)

2. Do you think that Dia de la Raza is a good, ok, or bad holiday? (THE WAY PEOPLE IN LATIN AMERICA CELEBRATE IT)

3. You saw what October 12th meant to Porfirio Diaz, Antonio Caso, and Don Carlos María de Bustamante. What does October 12th mean to you?

4. What do you think your life would be like if Christopher Columbus never came to the “New World?”

5. How do you celebrate October 12th in your country?6. What would you teach your children about October

12th?

What Does it Look Like?

SpanishSpanish IndigenousIndigenous

MestizoMestizo

Cut out the pictures and paste them into the appropriate place in your Venn diagram