Meaning Making History--Donald Trump: Columbus Day Proclamation; Indigenous Peoples' Day Proclamations of the Governors of California and Vermont

Here are the indigenous people Christopher Columbus and his men could not annihilate

Shared history within a political community has always been difficult; all the more so when history moves, as it must, from the relation of events to its judgment.  History has always been well embedded in judgment, and judgement in values that serve as the structures through which the world (and the events which take place) are recognized, and in that act of recognition, placed within the value systems it is meant to validate and confirm.  Indeed, the word itself, ultimately derived from the Greek--"historein "be witness or expert; give testimony, recount; find out, search, inquire," and histōr "knowing, expert; witness," both ultimately from PIE *wid-tor-, from root *weid- "to see," hence "to know." (Etymology Online-history). Seeing and knowing, then, produce a complex interplay between the witnessing of events (which itself is the product of a judgment that an occurrence is worthy of noting) and its knowing (that is to recognize the event for what it is in relation to other events constrained by the structures of perceiving and of meaning making within a community).  

Leif Erickson Day

History, in this sense, is an act of creation in the image of its creators--the community that determines the values within which events are recognized and given meaning that in turn confirm the values around which the knowing of events is developed. It is in this sense that, especially where a community is in a dynamic stage of transforming its values, or where there is conflict among distinctive factions that view the world through different value measures, that history becomes both contested and political-cultural.  Yet what is contested at its core are the values that make it possible to see and know a thing in relation to the values around which seeing and knowing are given meaning. The search for historical truth, then, can be understood better as the search for the affirmation of values through the truth extracted from historical events which are acknowledged, and invested with moral, normative, political and cultural value.  Signification, then, is the way in which history is necessarily "curated"  (China to revise textbook language on anti-Japanese war ("To revise 'eight-year war of resistance' into '14-year war of resistance' not only is the consensus among Chinese historians, but also conforms to historical truth," said Wang Jianxue, vice chairman of the China Association of Historians Studying Modern Chinese Historical Materials)).

These are the States Ditching Columbus Day

Of course, those within the contests over history cannot see it that way--they are in history rather than beyond it.  And that history making is central to the core contest over the way in which meaning is made and values are legitimated and applied to the construction of communal self understanding. These contests over history occur everywhere today (e.g.,What Japanese history lessons leave out;  Vladimir Putin Wants to Rewrite the History of World War II). But they also touch on the way that historical events may themselves be manufactured to advance the legitimacy of the values they are meant to represent.  This continuum is possible only because of the relationship between seeing and knowing, between recognizing a thing and the context within which recognition is possible (for an interesting analysis of the continuum, see the Rand Corp's Truth Decay).  The problem of the manufacture of historical events is challenging enough; but the larger issue becomes clearer and more potent when the issue of "accuracy" is removed.  That is, what one sees and knows as history can be quite distinct eve when two or more communities are "seeing" the same thing but "knowing them" differently.

 The current contests over the "history" of Christopher Columbus provides a very clear example of this meaning making in periods of substantial instability in the underlying values from which stories may be "properly" related (for the challenge to the old orthodoxy, see reporting, eg here, here, here, and here). The competing ways of "seeing" and "knowing" the colonization and foreign settlement of the Western hemisphere (after its initial settlement much earlier) tell one as much about the state of shared history in the United States as it exposes the great incoherence in that sharing among the different sub communities in the nation. The nature of those rifts are nicely exposed by comparing President Trump's 2020 Columbus Day Proclamation with that of the Governors of Vermont and California proclaiming Indigenous Peoples' Day. (See also Archives of Indigenous Peoples' Day).

All three follow below.

 

Proclamation on Columbus Day, 2020

Issued on: October 9, 2020

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More than 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus’s intrepid voyage to the New World ushered in a new era of exploration and discovery.  His travels led to European contact with the Americas and, a century later, the first settlements on the shores of the modern day United States.  Today, we celebrate Columbus Day to commemorate the great Italian who opened a new chapter in world history and to appreciate his enduring significance to the Western Hemisphere.

When Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María it marked the beginning of a new era in human history.  For Italian Americans, Christopher Columbus represents one of the first of many immeasurable contributions of Italy to American history.  As a native of Genoa, Columbus inspired early immigrants to carry forth their rich Italian heritage to the New World.  Today, the United States benefits from the warmth and generosity of nearly 17 million Italian Americans, whose love of family and country strengthen the fabric of our Nation.  For our beautiful Italian American communities — and Americans of every background –Columbus remains a legendary figure.

Sadly, in recent years, radical activists have sought to undermine Christopher Columbus’s legacy.  These extremists seek to replace discussion of his vast contributions with talk of failings, his discoveries with atrocities, and his achievements with transgressions.  Rather than learn from our history, this radical ideology and its adherents seek to revise it, deprive it of any splendor, and mark it as inherently sinister.  They seek to squash any dissent from their orthodoxy.  We must not give in to these tactics or consent to such a bleak view of our history.  We must teach future generations about our storied heritage, starting with the protection of monuments to our intrepid heroes like Columbus.  This June, I signed an Executive Order to ensure that any person or group destroying or vandalizing a Federal monument, memorial, or statue is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I have also taken steps to ensure that we preserve our Nation’s history and promote patriotic education.  In July, I signed another Executive Order to build and rebuild monuments to iconic American figures in a National Garden of American Heroes.  In September, I announced the creation of the 1776 Commission, which will encourage our educators to teach our children about the miracle of American history and honor our founding.  In addition, last month I signed an Executive Order to root out the teaching of racially divisive concepts from the Federal workplace, many of which are grounded in the same type of revisionist history that is trying to erase Christopher Columbus from our national heritage.  Together, we must safeguard our history and stop this new wave of iconoclasm by standing against those who spread hate and division.

On this Columbus Day, we embrace the same optimism that led Christopher Columbus to discover the New World.  We inherit that optimism, along with the legacy of American heroes who blazed the trails, settled a continent, tamed the wilderness, and built the single-greatest nation the world has ever seen.

In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 30, 1934, modified in 1968 (36 U.S.C. 107), has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as “Columbus Day.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 12, 2020, as Columbus Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and all who have contributed to shaping this Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

DONALD J. TRUMP

 

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 Proclamation Indigenous Peoples' Day--California

For the second year in a row, California proclaims today as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today we celebrate the Indigenous peoples who call California home and who have survived and thrived in the face of unimaginable challenges to shape California’s past, present and future.

This year, as the nation reflects on our collective history, we honor the truth-telling of Indigenous peoples who have long advocated for us to embrace a fuller vision of our past. From highlighting the Native American rights movement’s occupation of Alcatraz to the important reconsideration of what figures are worthy of statues and monuments on display on state properties, Indigenous peoples have compelled us to shape a society more reflective of our values as Californians.

Our state is home to one of the largest and most diverse populations of Indigenous peoples anywhere in the United States. In addition to the many Indigenous peoples who have lived here since time immemorial, others crossed borders and oceans to get to California, and some made their home here as a result of federal policies that forced the mass relocation of Native Americans westward.

Since the first contact with Europeans, peoples indigenous to California have lived their lives in defiance of forces of oppression, violence and discrimination, including the genocidal “war of extermination” directed by California’s first governor. It is in recognition of that dark history that the State has taken steps toward reconciliation and greater equity for California Indigenous peoples. California has taken action to convey ancestral lands back to tribes for preservation of cultural resources; reassessed geographic place names, statues and monuments to better reflect our state’s values; and built upon last year’s formal apology to California Native Americans by establishing a Truth and Healing Council to embark upon the journey of healing together.

Reckoning with this past is essential to advancing justice and equity for California Native peoples today. We are faced with the stark reality that Indigenous peoples are being disproportionately impacted by the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and make up many of the people on the front lines – tribal leaders making sure elders and communities are cared for, farmworkers ensuring that we have fresh food on our tables and medical personnel treating those who have fallen sick. As the state faces historic wildfires, Indigenous peoples have fought fires, provided shelter and shared traditional ecological knowledges of cultural burns to prevent future large-scale fires. And, in the midst of these challenges, Indigenous families continue to be impacted by the federal government’s xenophobic immigration policies, and construction of a border wall could threaten cultural resources.

In the spirit of reconciliation and reexamination, I encourage all Californians today to take time to celebrate Indigenous peoples rather than the forces that tried, and failed, to eradicate them. Let us reflect on how their resistance and persistence has shaped California for the better.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim October 12, 2020, as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 12^th day of October 2020.

GAVIN NEWSOM

Governor of California

 

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