In 1492, Christpher Columbus created a legacy for himself based on the ideology he founded in North America. When he had originally set out, his journey was to create a new path to India and prove that the earth was not flat however, both of these things are more like myths, much like the rest of his story, which has been misconstrued and twisted for years. 

     On the second Monday in October, we celebrate Christopher Columbus Day to commemorate the man who helped us form what we know today. At least that is what we were always taught -- that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and made an amazing discovery. In all actuality however, North America already had millions of settled Native Americans in the area as well as the vikings who had already settled here 500 years prior.. Not to mention Columbus was trying to prove that the world was not flat, when in reality people had known it was not since Aristotle. 

     The main issue with Columbus is not that people think he founded North America, it is what he did after he got here. He enslaved the Native Americans and caused a mass geonicde on their people by bringing sickness and war. He forced some to go and find him gold and if they did not bring enough, he would brutally tourure them. He would send women as young as nine years old into sexual slavery. It got to the point where he would even go as far mistreating the other colonists around him, which eventually led to his imprisonment.

     According to a report done by The Washington Post, he ended up causing 12 to 15 million indegious people to be killed, forcing the surviving Native Americans to retreat to reservations. 

     His story has been romanticized and tends to overlook his actual legacy. Instead of retelling this false narrative each year, the story we should tell is one that commemorates Native Americans. Native Americans are still feeling the repercussions of poverty, discrimination, and the overwhelming amout of misrepresentation of their culture. 

     Recently, more and more people have come to realize that they should no longer celebrate this man and instead celebrate “Indengious People's Day.” This could potentially help in taking away the power Columbus holds even after his death and start to squander it. This is one of the first steps in making sure Native Americans don’t have to continuously feel the pain of their ancestors' history. Collectively more people need to come together and dismantle the false history we are being taught about Columbus and start to replace it with the real history, where we recognize the Native Americans and the lives that were lost.