- Conquistadora the Explorer: a satirical (and hilarious) look at the legacy of conquest in the New World
- Columbus with the Big Butt: made by Yurok/Karuk Koleyna Kohler when she was 9 years old, an amusing look at Columbus, with a catchy song that will get stuck in your head. For real. “look at that Columbus with the big butt…“
- The Truth behind Columbus Day: an excerpt from the full length doc The Canary Effect, which interviews Native leaders and scholars about US policies towards Native peoples.
- Vintage Columbus Mel-O-Tune: cringe-worthy cartoon, maddening to think about how many children have seen this on TV.
Have any others? Post in the comments!
(Thanks Monica, Scott, and everyone else who sent these over!)
Comments
lovely post!
“. . .the Spanish loved their statue just like we loved our fingers. . .”
this is so poignant it makes me cry.
I’ve noticed that you use “Native” and “Indian” interchangeably. I have a few ancestors who are Native American but I don’t self-identify as Native (I always claim my African American heritage as there’s a lot more of it and it’s much more recent – my father v the Native Americans generations upon generations ago).
That being said, I find the use of the word “Indian” to describe indigenous peoples of the United States to be, most importantly, misleading, but also a bit ignorant as the term came from a mistaken belief that America was India, as I’m sure you already know.
I’m wondering what your justification is for using the word “Indian” to define Native Americans? For the sake of clarity, I always refer to people from India as Indians and people from the United States as Native Americans.
Please note, I’m nowhere near as offended, nor do I intend to be as confrontational as this comment might come across. Just culturally curious.
Wow, King Ferdinand actually looked like Hitler in that last cartoon.
@M.S.- Not sure what you’re referring to since I don’t see the use of Native & Indian interchangeably anywhere in this specific blog. Do you just mean this as a general observation you have from life?
As a child (early 70s’) I was an “Indian” according to society & we all called ourselves American Indians (i.e. AIM). When I went to college (late 80’s), Indians were the kids from India so we were Native Americans. When I came back to Northern Maine people thought Native American meant not Canadian so I was an Indian again. My mother’s people are from Canada where they adopted the term indigenous. They also use First Nations peoples & aboriginals in Canada. People my age & younger have taken to calling ourselves NDN as a play on the old term. When I was in Germany I was called a Red Indian or an Indianer. They had no understanding of what Native American meant – for them this meant anyone from America.
None of these terms offend me & I find I use them interchangeably depending on who I’m speaking to so I don’t have to define what I meant when I said ___.
Would I prefer to not have to use “Indian”? Yes, but if the person only understands that word as representing the people who lived on the American continents prior to European immigration & their descendants, then I’ll use it.
HOWEVER I do have friends that get highly offended by being called “Indian”. When in doubt follow how the person refers to their self or just ask.