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Columbus Day marks the genocidal foundation of America

Thursday, 17 October 2024 10:35 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 17 October 2024 10:35 AM ]

A Navajo/Oglala Sioux holds a sign during a demonstration for Indigenous Peoples Day in Seattle. (Photo by AP)

Every year on the second Monday of October, there are two types of people in America, those who commemorate indigenous people’s day when natives were slaughtered by colonizers, and those who celebrate this genocide by calling it Columbus Day, which marks the founding of the nation.

In New York, indigenous people gathered to honor indigenous culture and heritage, which were suppressed by the colonizers.

Indigenous Peoples' Day reminder of America's genocidal history

Indigenous Peoples' Day in US reminder of America's genocidal history

Indigenous tribes in the United States reflect on their own history.

In Utah, home to thriving tribes, we spoke with an indigenous activist fighting for the Liberation of Palestine.

Because the Palestinian people, like indigenous people, for the least, past 75 years, have been actively resisting the settler colonial project in the form of Zionism in Historic Palestine.

Here in the United States, Native people have been fighting against that sort of force [for] all of their existence since the colonial period.

Adrian Rollins, Party for Socialism and Liberation

Indigenous Resistance: ‘Columbus Day’ and genocide in Gaza

Op. Indigenous Resistance: America’s ‘Columbus Day’ and genocide in Gaza

Every year, on ‘Columbus Day’, Indigenous native tribes in the US mourn the loss of their homelands and ancestors. This year, it coincides with the first anniversary of the Israeli-US genocide in Gaza.

Presidential candidate and activist, Claudia de la Cruz, was also present to speak to us on the idea of resistance and the upcoming elections,

We are demanding the end to the illegal occupation of Palestine, because that's an illegal occupation that is recognized internationally.

The problem is that the United States, as an empire, does not respect or abide [by] any international law.

In our presidential campaign what we're attempting to do is to bring to the attention of the people that it doesn't matter whether it's Trump or Harris, it's not about the individual, it's about the political and economic project that they're there to protect.

And I think we need to gain that understanding of politics. Malcolm X called it political maturity. We need to gain the political maturity to understand our position as working class people and the position of the ruling class and what they're there to do.

They're not there to represent us. They're not there to represent our interests. They're not there to protect us. They're there to protect the US Empire, the billionaires, the corporations and the banks and the military contractors.

Claudia de la Cruz, PSL Presidential Candidate

More unmarked graves found on the site of a former residential school

More unmarked graves found on the site of a former residential school

The discovery of 93 potential unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school is the latest discovery of the remains of scores of Indigenous children over the past year.

The colonial roots and imperialist strategies rooted in the US government and its foreign policies continue to branch out and take as many lives as it can, from indigenous America in 1492 to Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen in 2024.