News :: Protest Activity
Indigenous Communities & Activists Protest Columbus Day Parade
by People's Newswire, photos of arrest by Gabriel Biller (edited by CIMC - TF) 12 Oct 2005 • chicago.indymedia.orgOver forty local activists, most from local indigenous communities, protested the city's Columbus Day Parade on October 10th. Police arrested one activist who was charged with an "offensive utterance."
Indigenous activists resisted the parade (complete with corporate floats, high school marching bands, JROTC and other military school students, police, and other icons of Eurocentric dominance) through their cultural traditions using dance and ceremony. Other activists carried out a die-in, talked with spectators, and chanted along the route.
Reactions to activists varied. Many, including onlookers and even people in floats, agreed with the protesters on their main points, some offering not to celebrate in future years. Others hurrahed genocide, swore at activists, and one protester was shoved.
Columbus contributed to the genocide that cost the lives of 80-100 million indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. In Chicago, his holiday has been taken up by Italian-American communities as the day to celebrate their heritage, while in some countries like Venezuela they celebrate Indigenous Resistance Day instead.
After a closing ceremonial event that thanked ancestors and the Mexica Creator for the survival of culture, protesters at the parade vowed to make it an annual event, hoping to bring hundreds next year.
"Scribbler" was taken to the 1st District under the direction of Commander Keating who was on the scene. Although he was not processed and only given a citation, he has a courtdate on December 1st. Read the full account.
Indymedia Coverage on Resistance to Columbus Day:
Indigenous People's Day Broadcast on RadioActive San Diego | Colorado Reports on the Toppled Statue of Columbus in Venezuela
Additional Information: Christopher Columbus and the Indians by Howard Zinn | Transform Columbus Day | DN!: Indigenous Activists Blast Columbus Day as "Propping Up of Racist Propaganda"