Tuesday, October 11: Indigenous Peoples
Only Christopher we celebrate is Wallace (and Tucker, I loved the Rush Hour movies)
Yesterday was Indigenous People’s Day, formerly known as Columbus Day for all the uncultured heathens out there celebrating Chris Columbus with no concept of how colonialism works. Obviously we could get into how Columbus was a heap of garbage with the blessing of the Italian crown, but for the sake of brevity, I’d rather focus on discussing & honoring Indigenous people.
The Living Atlas brings together three maps of the city of Chicago in order to illustrate exactly how and where Native populations were affected. By mapping out the geography of Native American displacement in the United States, the colonial land-filling and water-seizing in and around the Lake Michigan area, and the geography of Chicago’s modern urban development we can see exactly where the most damage was done. It’s eye-opening to see how entire communities were destroyed in order to build a highway or a park (or even the building this newsletter is being written from).
The name “Chicago,” references a French rendering of the Miami-Illinois word for a type of wild onion, the shikaakwa. Shikaakwa (known in English as ramp) was later turned into checagou or chicagua, also in reference to a specific type of garlic that grew in the forests and plains of this region. While seeking out information and learning the history is crucial, it’s important that we understand settler-colonialism isn’t simply a historical phenomenon. The Living Atlas contends that the city (and its surrounding regions) are products of violence and struggle that persist to this day.
We needn’t look far to see extreme and obvious examples of modern day colonialism, as corporations violate treaties and snake pipelines through Indigenous lands or poison the drinking water of communities. These are just examples from this country, but if we choose to zoom out, there’s endless evidence of ongoing Indigenous displacement, from Canada to Mexico to Palestine and beyond. I believe our job is to educate ourselves and to work actively to usher in an era without colonization, displacement, or destruction. Light work.
Side Items
Kamala Harris, who I struggle to make jokes about because again, I have no idea what she does on a day-to-day basis as vice president, appeared on a late night TV show with one of those identical white guys with a quick smile and joke. At one point she opined that ‘nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed’, an odd statement from a former law enforcement agent who definitely put people in jail for smoking weed. I don’t hate politicians like Kamala Harris for their ineptitude, only for their inconsistency and inability to see all the lives they’ve destroyed on their path to power
Y’all remember Quibi? Back in the beginning of the pandemic, before there even was a pandemic really, Quibi was trying to make news and content specifically for young people. They thought that by shortening a program like ‘60 Minutes’ into 6 minutes, younger audiences would be more engaged. The executives failed to realize that 6 minutes is far too long for a modern audience, who generally have 6-8 seconds to decide whether or not to keep on scrolling
It was actually the spanish Queen and king (Isabella and Ferdinand)