The darker side of Columbus examined in some schools
By Christine Armario
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Jeffrey Kolowith’s kindergarten students read a poem about Christopher Columbus, take a journey to the New World on three paper ships and place the explorer’s picture on a timeline through history.
Kolowith’s students learn about the explorer’s significance — though they also come away with a more nuanced picture of Columbus than the noble discoverer often portrayed in pop culture and legend.
“I talk about the situation where he didn’t even realize where he was,” Kolowith said. “And we talked about how he was very, very mean, very bossy.”
Columbus’ stature in U.S. classrooms has declined somewhat through the years, and many districts will not observe his namesake holiday today. Although lessons vary, many teachers are trying to present a more balanced perspective of what happened after Columbus reached the Caribbean and the suffering of indigenous populations.
“The whole terminology has changed,” said James Kracht, executive associate dean for academic affairs in the Texas A&M College of Education and Human Development. “You don’t hear people using the world ‘discovery’ anymore like they used to. ‘Columbus discovers America.’ Because how could he discover America if there were already people living here?”
In Texas, students start learning in the fifth grade about the “Columbian Exchange” — which consisted not only of gold, crops and goods shipped back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, but diseases carried by settlers that ravaged native populations.
In McDonald, Pa., fourth-grade students at Fort Cherry Elementary put Columbus on trial this year — charging him with misrepresenting the Spanish crown and thievery. They found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.
“In their own verbiage, he was a bad guy,” teacher Laurie Crawford said.
Of course, the perspective given varies across classrooms and grades. Donna Sabis-Burns, a team leader with the U.S. Department of Education’s School Support and Technology Program, surveyed teachers nationwide about the Columbus reading materials they used in class for her University of Florida dissertation. She examined 62 picture books, and found the majority were outdated and contained inaccurate — and sometimes outright demeaning — depictions of the native Taino population.
The federal holiday itself also is not universally recognized. Schools in Seattle, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles will be open; New York City, Washington and Chicago schools will be closed.
The day is an especially sensitive issue in places with larger native American populations.
“We have a very large Alaska native population, so just the whole Columbus being the founder of the United States doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, myself included,” said Paul Prussing, deputy director of Alaska’s Division of Teaching and Learning Support.
Many recall decades ago when there was scant mention of indigenous groups in discussions about Columbus. Kracht remembers a picture in one of his fifth-grade textbooks that showed Columbus wading to shore with a huge flag and cross.
“The indigenous population was kind of waiting expectantly, almost with smiles on their faces,” Kracht said. “ ‘I wonder what this guy is bringing us?’ Well, he’s bringing us smallpox, for one thing, and none of us are going to live very long.”
Kracht said an emerging multiculturalism led more people to investigate the cruelties suffered by the Taino population in the 1960s and ‘70s, along with the 500th anniversary in 1992.
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I taught an eight grade class a few days ago, and there were many surprises. It just so happen I had ulu in the bed of my truck. So, I was able to show non/Hawaiian Na Alaka'i tobe, not that they wannabe yet leaders. The Hawaiian student asked if that was a banana? Ugh! I had written questions on the board in print in the morning because I forgot they were eight graders. In the after noon, I rewrote the questions all 13 again on the board this time in script. Our Alaka'i to be not wannabe yet--said, "oh mis, I no can write in script!" I said, "you may write in print." "Oh mis, I can't read your script" I said, "it's your kuleana" I said, "pretend you are in a canoe paddling home." I said, "all of you help each other out and solve the problem." I starte to read the core values on the board in plain sight...Lokahi... .
Student's wrote the questions down and skipped lines to write there answers. I passed out the worksheet. I asked the, Hawaiian (I no can read script) to read the first paragraph, "oh mis, I no can read." Was this child being lazy? No, it was the true! "Ainokan reed!" This is the norm sometimes (all of the time) and one has to keep trying different ways to reach the child and to have him/her except his/her own kuleana.
"Ulu"
(Artocarpus communis)
The early Polynesians brought over the first 'ulu or breadfruit trees to Hawai'i from Tahiti. These were said to have been planted at Kualoa on the island of O'ahu as a gift for a chief.
The 'ulu is an attractive tropical tree with large lobed leaves. It reaches heights of 30 to 60 feet. The large, roundish, yellow-brown fruit with its sweet pulp and rough outer skin is edible when baked or boiled.
The wood is useful and because of its lightness, it was used a great deal to make surfboards and canoes. It was also used to make poi boards upon which the taro was pounded to make poi. The smooth bark was beaten and used as a source for kapa cloth. The milky sap was used for chewing gum and caulking canoe seams.
In Hawaiian and Tahitian myth, the 'ulu was a gift from a loving father to his family.
There was a time when a terrible famine came to the islands. The crops would not grow, there was nothing to eat, and the people were starving. The plentiful taro and fern root were gone.
The loving father spoke to his wife. He told her to look outside the house when she awoke the next morning. He said, "my hands will become leaves, my body will become the trunk, and my arms will become branches. My head will become round fruit and my tongue, the heart of the fruit."
The next morning, the wife looked outside the house. Growing nearby was a tree she had never seen before. It had large and beautiful leaves held up by strong brances from a straight and tall trunk. Among the leaves were great, round fruit.
Now, she understood what her husband was telling her. With tears in her eyes, she gathered the fruit into her arms. She and her children would no longer be hungry.
This was the first breadfruit tree, an unselfish gift.
note: I don't have the citatation as to wrote this piece.
In truth, I would not have been able to teach this story had I not experienced the kaona from each paragraph. It was such a validation.
I picked the ulu from my dad's house the day before which is why I had it in the back of my truck. The bugs were flying around it and I explained to them that many trees were cut down and that it is forbidden to grow these trees in State public places.
I also, explained to them as a little girl there was pounding boards everywhere on my dad's property. As for the gum, I told them as I was building the 56' double hull wa'a, it was not considered authentic in the full traditional style because we did not use 'gum' from the ulu tree.
I also explained about 'why' I pick the ulu--I don't take it home to cook or eat, I take it to the Micronesians in Waianae as a gift from my father and his father. I also go off track and talk about how the children like to eat at Burger King, Mc Donalds, and Taco Bell where there mom works, instead of eating their healthy food. I tell them that the Micronesians are sick and they are here for medical attention and eating at fast foods should cause diseases in their children.
I also go off on the illegal overthrow, Amelica, and their barbaric ways. Some classes, I can get away with telling them out right "this is my land and I want the Americans to leave, and take their blood money with them" Just kidding! I actually say things that would probably cause me to loose my job.
Scaling down my heated fevor, I tell them to plant ulu anywhere, pay attention to their right to fresh water vs gray water. And I go off again, how I lived in the dorm in 1990-91 (?) and we auau in gray water, and when I explain to them what gray water is--I have their attention.
Hawaii had many famine's and people died during those famine. I tell them that 80 to 90% of our food are imports. I explain how Satawa is the place that has sacred grounds where things grow and are stored for that purpose. I share the notion that we don't have a 2050 sustainable plan in our (fake-state) constitution as oppose to Satawa thanks to some akamai Australian's. They have a constitution and a 2050 sustainable plan written into it.
May you enjoy this posting and share with your Ohana and community the importance of Ululani on the Maoli World. Lot's of aloha Kaohi
"Columbus Day is celebrated in many countries in the Americas to honor Christopher Columbus, a sailor and explorer who is said to have discovered America. Columbus was born in Italy in 1451 and began working as a seaman when he was just a young boy. In the early 1400’s, European traders could easily travel by land and sea to China and India to trade for silk, spices and other goods. But in 1453, the city of Constantinople was conquered by the Muslims and Egypt fell to a group of people known as the Ottomans. As a result, passage to India and China was much more difficult for European traders. Sailors needed to travel all the way around Africa to get to India and Asia since they could no longer go by way of the Red Sea and Egypt. By the 1480’s, Columbus and his brothers had come to believe that they could sail to India by going directly west around the world. The myth that people still believed that the world was flat when Columbus was born is mostly false. Most people knew by this time that Earth was a sphere. But unlike many people at the time, Columbus believed that the distance between Europe and Asia to the west was short enough for a voyage by sea. "
"Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Italy. As a boy, he learned how to weave wool from his father and because his father was a businessman, Columbus would have learned how to read and write. He worked as a clerk in a bookstore for a while, but he really wanted to be a sailor. He started going to sea when he was 14 years old and when he was 21 years old he was in command of his own ship. He first sailed to England in 1476 and French pirates attacked the fleet of ships. His ship was burned and Christopher had to swim to Portugal, where he spent a lot of time in Lagos. After a while he moved to Lisbon and became friends with many merchants and shipbuilders."
3rd grade
In this lesson plan the student well learn not only a history lesson of Thanksgiving, but they will also work on an art activity. The students will first learn some important facts about Columbus’s expedition. They will not only learn about the exploration of the “New World” but they will learn about the first Thanksgiving. The one group will learn about the exploration and the other will learn about the first Thanksgiving. They will then switch topics so they learn both parts. After learning the facts they will in a group decide on what they want as part of their mural. The students will each make a picture that will be apart of the mural.
My argument is the way Hawaii academics treat first nation people and their lands as if they are non existing and are replaced by standards style of speaking language. In this process culture behavior is transformed into multi essences of reality. An endless problem keeps reoccurring one on top of each other. From that platform of background knowledge of First Nation treatments than I believe this argument could be understood at it's conflict origin. Kaohi
As you already know there are pockets of places where teachers teach the truth. I notice that the location of the article is Tampa, Florida. This seems to hold true for the Tampa Bay area... partly due to the large native population.
Of course it is always a struggle for natives to be respected but I can say that they do not celebrate Columbus Day in this area like perhaps other places too. It is a very progressive place when it comes to relations with its native people.
This is significantly different in the "state" of Hawai'i where lots of oiwi keiki are indoctrinated and lied to about their history. Some even use the DOE to brainwash the keiki against their kupuna though Kamehameha Schools is not immune to that. Some there try to do it too. They are not taught the truth so I find it a bit hypocritical for some teachers to teach "being truthful" yet turn around and *not* be truthful to the keiki. Stating the obvious again though....
They are many spins to this issue, discovery, indigenous, and equality in diversity, however it is the dead home thing that concerns me. Home is to be conquered by another more powerful foreign government all in the best intest of global economy. Kaohi
Replies
I taught an eight grade class a few days ago, and there were many surprises. It just so happen I had ulu in the bed of my truck. So, I was able to show non/Hawaiian Na Alaka'i tobe, not that they wannabe yet leaders. The Hawaiian student asked if that was a banana? Ugh! I had written questions on the board in print in the morning because I forgot they were eight graders. In the after noon, I rewrote the questions all 13 again on the board this time in script. Our Alaka'i to be not wannabe yet--said, "oh mis, I no can write in script!" I said, "you may write in print." "Oh mis, I can't read your script" I said, "it's your kuleana" I said, "pretend you are in a canoe paddling home." I said, "all of you help each other out and solve the problem." I starte to read the core values on the board in plain sight...Lokahi... .
Student's wrote the questions down and skipped lines to write there answers. I passed out the worksheet. I asked the, Hawaiian (I no can read script) to read the first paragraph, "oh mis, I no can read." Was this child being lazy? No, it was the true! "Ainokan reed!" This is the norm sometimes (all of the time) and one has to keep trying different ways to reach the child and to have him/her except his/her own kuleana.
"Ulu"
(Artocarpus communis)
The early Polynesians brought over the first 'ulu or breadfruit trees to Hawai'i from Tahiti. These were said to have been planted at Kualoa on the island of O'ahu as a gift for a chief.
The 'ulu is an attractive tropical tree with large lobed leaves. It reaches heights of 30 to 60 feet. The large, roundish, yellow-brown fruit with its sweet pulp and rough outer skin is edible when baked or boiled.
The wood is useful and because of its lightness, it was used a great deal to make surfboards and canoes. It was also used to make poi boards upon which the taro was pounded to make poi. The smooth bark was beaten and used as a source for kapa cloth. The milky sap was used for chewing gum and caulking canoe seams.
In Hawaiian and Tahitian myth, the 'ulu was a gift from a loving father to his family.
There was a time when a terrible famine came to the islands. The crops would not grow, there was nothing to eat, and the people were starving. The plentiful taro and fern root were gone.
The loving father spoke to his wife. He told her to look outside the house when she awoke the next morning. He said, "my hands will become leaves, my body will become the trunk, and my arms will become branches. My head will become round fruit and my tongue, the heart of the fruit."
The next morning, the wife looked outside the house. Growing nearby was a tree she had never seen before. It had large and beautiful leaves held up by strong brances from a straight and tall trunk. Among the leaves were great, round fruit.
Now, she understood what her husband was telling her. With tears in her eyes, she gathered the fruit into her arms. She and her children would no longer be hungry.
This was the first breadfruit tree, an unselfish gift.
note: I don't have the citatation as to wrote this piece.
In truth, I would not have been able to teach this story had I not experienced the kaona from each paragraph. It was such a validation.
I picked the ulu from my dad's house the day before which is why I had it in the back of my truck. The bugs were flying around it and I explained to them that many trees were cut down and that it is forbidden to grow these trees in State public places.
I also, explained to them as a little girl there was pounding boards everywhere on my dad's property. As for the gum, I told them as I was building the 56' double hull wa'a, it was not considered authentic in the full traditional style because we did not use 'gum' from the ulu tree.
I also explained about 'why' I pick the ulu--I don't take it home to cook or eat, I take it to the Micronesians in Waianae as a gift from my father and his father. I also go off track and talk about how the children like to eat at Burger King, Mc Donalds, and Taco Bell where there mom works, instead of eating their healthy food. I tell them that the Micronesians are sick and they are here for medical attention and eating at fast foods should cause diseases in their children.
I also go off on the illegal overthrow, Amelica, and their barbaric ways. Some classes, I can get away with telling them out right "this is my land and I want the Americans to leave, and take their blood money with them" Just kidding! I actually say things that would probably cause me to loose my job.
Scaling down my heated fevor, I tell them to plant ulu anywhere, pay attention to their right to fresh water vs gray water. And I go off again, how I lived in the dorm in 1990-91 (?) and we auau in gray water, and when I explain to them what gray water is--I have their attention.
Hawaii had many famine's and people died during those famine. I tell them that 80 to 90% of our food are imports. I explain how Satawa is the place that has sacred grounds where things grow and are stored for that purpose. I share the notion that we don't have a 2050 sustainable plan in our (fake-state) constitution as oppose to Satawa thanks to some akamai Australian's. They have a constitution and a 2050 sustainable plan written into it.
May you enjoy this posting and share with your Ohana and community the importance of Ululani on the Maoli World. Lot's of aloha Kaohi
"Columbus Day is celebrated in many countries in the Americas to honor Christopher Columbus, a sailor and explorer who is said to have discovered America. Columbus was born in Italy in 1451 and began working as a seaman when he was just a young boy. In the early 1400’s, European traders could easily travel by land and sea to China and India to trade for silk, spices and other goods. But in 1453, the city of Constantinople was conquered by the Muslims and Egypt fell to a group of people known as the Ottomans. As a result, passage to India and China was much more difficult for European traders. Sailors needed to travel all the way around Africa to get to India and Asia since they could no longer go by way of the Red Sea and Egypt. By the 1480’s, Columbus and his brothers had come to believe that they could sail to India by going directly west around the world. The myth that people still believed that the world was flat when Columbus was born is mostly false. Most people knew by this time that Earth was a sphere. But unlike many people at the time, Columbus believed that the distance between Europe and Asia to the west was short enough for a voyage by sea. "
"Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Italy. As a boy, he learned how to weave wool from his father and because his father was a businessman, Columbus would have learned how to read and write. He worked as a clerk in a bookstore for a while, but he really wanted to be a sailor. He started going to sea when he was 14 years old and when he was 21 years old he was in command of his own ship. He first sailed to England in 1476 and French pirates attacked the fleet of ships. His ship was burned and Christopher had to swim to Portugal, where he spent a lot of time in Lagos. After a while he moved to Lisbon and became friends with many merchants and shipbuilders."
3rd grade
In this lesson plan the student well learn not only a history lesson of Thanksgiving, but they will also work on an art activity. The students will first learn some important facts about Columbus’s expedition. They will not only learn about the exploration of the “New World” but they will learn about the first Thanksgiving. The one group will learn about the exploration and the other will learn about the first Thanksgiving. They will then switch topics so they learn both parts. After learning the facts they will in a group decide on what they want as part of their mural. The students will each make a picture that will be apart of the mural.
My argument is the way Hawaii academics treat first nation people and their lands as if they are non existing and are replaced by standards style of speaking language. In this process culture behavior is transformed into multi essences of reality. An endless problem keeps reoccurring one on top of each other. From that platform of background knowledge of First Nation treatments than I believe this argument could be understood at it's conflict origin. Kaohi
As you already know there are pockets of places where teachers teach the truth. I notice that the location of the article is Tampa, Florida. This seems to hold true for the Tampa Bay area... partly due to the large native population.
Of course it is always a struggle for natives to be respected but I can say that they do not celebrate Columbus Day in this area like perhaps other places too. It is a very progressive place when it comes to relations with its native people.
This is significantly different in the "state" of Hawai'i where lots of oiwi keiki are indoctrinated and lied to about their history. Some even use the DOE to brainwash the keiki against their kupuna though Kamehameha Schools is not immune to that. Some there try to do it too. They are not taught the truth so I find it a bit hypocritical for some teachers to teach "being truthful" yet turn around and *not* be truthful to the keiki. Stating the obvious again though....
~ Lana