by Maria Caspani
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Christopher Columbus Day drew crowds on Monday with parades in US cities marking the explorer’s journey and Italian-American culture as the focus shifts increasingly to heritage and conditions of indigenous peoples subjugated by European colonizers.
At the White House, where US President Joe Biden had declared Oct. 11 Indigenous Peoples Day, community activists staged protests about climate change, fossil fuels and the coronavirus, which disproportionately affect Native Americans.
In New York City, crowds gathered along Fifth Avenue to watch the largest and most traditional Columbus Day parade, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
Despite the cold temperature and dry weather, attendance seemed smaller than before. In 2019, about 1 million spectators attended the event, which features Italian-American bands, politicians and parades, according to organizers.
“I Love. I missed it last year,” said Alphonse Vecchione, a resident of Queens, New York. “We love our Italian tradition.”
Columbus Day parades were also held in Chicago and Cleveland. But in a growing number of cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Portland, Oregon, the holiday has been superseded – or added – to tributes to indigenous peoples. States like Alaska, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Vermont did the same.
Beginning in 1492, Columbus led three voyages across the Atlantic to the Caribbean on behalf of the Spanish crown. Many indigenous peoples found by Europeans since then were enslaved, murdered or killed by diseases brought by the colonizers.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani, Shannon Stapleton and Mike Segar in New York)
See too
+ Until 2019, there were more people in prisons than on the Brazilian stock exchange
+ Aloe gel in the drink: see the benefits
+ Lemon-squeezing trick becomes a craze on social media
+ Chef playmate creates aphrodisiac recipe for Orgasm Day
+ Mercedes-Benz Sprinter wins motorhome version
+ Anorexia, an eating disorder that can lead to death
+ US agency warns: never wash raw chicken meat
+ Yasmin Brunet breaks the silence
+ Shark is captured in MA with the remains of youngsters missing in the stomach
+ See how much it costs to eat at the MasterChef judges’ restaurants
+ Auction of cars and motorcycles from Kombi to Nissan Frontier 0km