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Holiday not celebrated by tribes  By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
10/13/2008
American Indians see Columbus Day as a reminder of harsh treatment ages ago. For many, the second Monday in October is known as Columbus Day, a holiday that is often observed by residents making a trip to the post office only to find it closed.
It's not just those needing to send an urgent letter not thrilled with the holiday being officially sanctioned by state and federal governments, some American Indians see it as a reminder of the harsh treatment of their ancestors at the hands of Europeans.
While attitudes about the holiday among American Indians differ, most agree that Columbus Day is not a holiday that reflects the point of view of American Indians.
On Columbus Day, the Cherokee and Creek nations' tribal offices remain open and the day is not observed, while the Osage Nation's and United Keetoowah Band's tribal offices close, but refer to the holiday as Osage Day and Native American Day, respectively.
"Because it's a federal holiday and federal offices are closed anyway, it's the thought of exercising a little tribal sovereignty over what we have a little control over," said Osage Nation Chief Jim Gray. "Indian Country has mixed issues about who discovered whom, and if this is a celebration of who discovered the New World, those of us who had ancestors here before Columbus certainly might be allowed to have a different point of view about the whole thing."
The debate over whether or not Columbus Day should be recognized as a federal holiday is not an easy one, Gray said.
"Because there really isn't a day set aside for Native Americans, those of us who were the original Americans, I suppose you could see the desire to acknowledge that as a federal holiday," he said. "To have that debate is difficult some times, because it gets caught up in 'what do you have against Italians?' 'Well, nothing, what do you have against Indians?' All of a sudden the conversation delves down into an area that doesn't produce anything."
Cindy Martin, vice-president of the Tulsa Indian Coalition Against Racism, said many American Indians see Columbus' arrival as the beginning of European conquest and genocide.
"There's a lot of various issues that come up with this, and it's not just as simple as that we're picking on Columbus, but Columbus really for us sets that watermark, that high mark of where did all the issues really begin for American Indians in this country?" Martin said. "If you have to mark it, that's where it is."
Though some states have an American Indian Day and November is American Indian Heritage Month, there should be a federally sanctioned day recognizing contributions by American Indians, Martin said.
"We have all of these federal holidays, and they're rightfully so, but we have federal holidays for a lot of different leaders from various races throughout the year, but we don't have one recognizing the first people on this continent," Martin said. "Europeans wouldn't have caught hold and established themselves if it hadn't been for various native people they encountered when they came here. "
For the United Keetoowah Band, the second Monday in October is recognized as Native American Day and tribal offices are closed, said Chief George Wickliff.
"We felt like since we were already here, that we should have our own day, so we decided that we would call that day Native American Day," Wickliff said.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said the recognition of the day is a bit strange.
"The idea of Europeans discovering the New World is not something we celebrate," Smith said. "We always find it humorous that Columbus is accredited with discovering America, but if you look at a globe, his real notoriety is that he was the most lost an individual could be."
Smith said tribal offices will not shut down Monday for the holiday.
"Certainly not," Smith said, laughing. "We will be open for business."
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