The second Monday of October marks both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day.
In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, the Native American Student Association held a table at the Fieldhouse Mall outside of Lafortune Student Center from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. At the table, the association had stickers, shirts and links to donate. The donations are used to increase the “community's awareness of indigenous Americans’ issues like land acknowledgement, increasing our prevalence on campus, sharing our culture with our community, and keeping a safe space on campus for native students secured,” according to their ND Day website.
Viddy Wabindato, a member of the association, believes the holiday “is important to recognize” especially because there “is a lot of controversy” surrounding it. “I think it's important to highlight history from all different aspects,” she said.
The association's goal was to give students an opportunity to “talk about the natives that are on campus and recognize the natives on campus. We have a lot of different nations that are represented here,” Wabindato said.
According to Wabindato, the table means a lot to the club. “I was not on campus when it changed to Indigenous Peoples' Day, so I can't speak for that, but I know it means a lot for us to be able to be recognized and be able to have a table and tell others, because there, there's not a lot of people that people that know about our club in general,” she said.
In addition to student groups, several history courses at Notre Dame discuss indigenous history. “There are actually quite a few courses at Notre Dame that take into account indigenous histories, cultures, voices, and experiences," professor Katie Jarvis wrote in a statement to The Observer.
However, she pointed out room for improvement in the University’s regard for educating students on Indigenous people stating that “this material isn’t always visible in course titles. For students hoping to learn more about indigenous peoples, it would be useful for departments to annually list which courses included indigenous topics and societies.”
Professor Karen Graubart, also of the history department, provided insight into the change and history of this holiday. “The holiday began as Columbus Day, of course … It was picked up in the early twentieth century by Italian Americans, who felt (rightly) discriminated against, including as Catholics, and wanted to demonstrate their Americanness,” she wrote.
“You can also see this concern about anti-Catholic discrimination in our own Columbus murals, which place Catholicism at the center of exploration of the hemisphere, even though he never set foot in what is now the US ... But those murals expose another problem -- despite depicting Columbus (who was not Italian, there was no such thing as Italy until the 19th century!) as a scientist, a Catholic martyr, and as welcomed by Indigenous people, he was a pretty narcissistic and brutal person who refused some of the science of his times” Graubart continued.
At the end of this month, from Oct. 27-31, the University is unveiling the murals, allowing professors to teach students about their history and significance.
Graubart said she uses these murals by “bringing classes to them every year when they are uncovered for a more nuanced conversation. My interest with students is that they understand the historical record, and they can place the hero-worship of Columbus in a variety of contexts.”
University spokesperson Erin Blasko pointed to the University of Notre Dame website as a way to learn about the purpose of unveiling these murals.
According to the website, the “tapestries honor the decision to preserve the murals as an opportunity to appreciate the context in which they were created and to understand the University’s history, while respecting the dignity and experience of indigenous people, especially in the aftermath of Columbus’ arrival.”
Notre Dame’s chapter of the Knights of Columbus, Italian Club and Italian studies department did not respond to requests for comment on their celebrations of Columbus Day.
