Columbus Day or Explorers Day?

“Ocian in view! O! the joy.” 

These are the words written in William Clark’s journal at midday on November 7, 1805.  They project the desperate relief he felt upon seeing the Pacific Ocean.  Here, at last, was the goal the Corps of Discovery had been seeking for the better part of two years.  The explorers had reached the furthest point of their journey; and faced the long and equally perilous trek home.  The travels of Lewis and Clark carry real life drama that exceeds any attempts at mythology. 

            The act of exploration: its danger, daring and shared hardship form a unique bond among those who bear the title “explorer.”  Their feats become legends and their lives cast long shadows.  The story of mankind follows where the explorers lead.  They are humanity’s pathfinders. 

            Columbus was an explorer.  Today is Columbus Day.  So why does Columbus and the celebration of this day cause a yearly blooming of sour grapes that makes Napa Valley look like a backyard garden? 

            First, Columbus wasn’t the first European to land in North America.  Leif Eriksson and a band of Norsemen created a settlement of almost two years duration in Newfoundland 1500 years before Columbus.   Then, of course, there are the innumerable groups of Native Americans who were already here—immigrants from Asia that spread over an entire hemisphere over thousands of years. 

            There is also the popular complaint that Europeans brought diseases to the Native Americans which decimated their ranks.  We did.  Smallpox was our gift to them, but, to be fair, they returned the favor by giving us syphilis—a Western Hemisphere disease.  In a swap of smallpox for syphilis, I would say the Indians gave as good as they got.

            Many Native Americans take exception to our focus on Columbus because his arrival, and the invasion of Europeans that followed, led to a breakdown of their numbers and societal structures.  Also true; let’s face it, we won.  But before we get too “Rousseau” on the lives those indigenous people were living, keep in mind that their idyllic lifestyle included slavery, torture, infanticide and systematic genocide on rival tribes and clans.  Yet, on neither side were people treated beyond the bounds of what were then the cultural norms for their respective groups.   You can not retroactively condemn people for not conforming to a standard of morality which did not exist at the time. 

            Columbus gets a bad rap from people who want to rewrite history to fit modern prejudices.  We live in a society where it is fashionable to hate anything that looks successful, white and male.  But I also think that Columbus Day is a holiday that needs to be revisited and revised.  It is too small, too limited, and does not go to the heart of what we are really trying to celebrate.

            Columbus was an explorer.  He took intelligent and calculated risks.  He thought through problems, dared much and won big.  So did Esteban, a West African slave who explored much of the south and southwest of this country.  So did Zheng He of China who explored Asia, Africa and the Middle East.  So did James Cook and Roald Amundsen.  So did Sacajawea, a woman and Native American without whose help Lewis and Clark would probably never have reached the Pacific. 

            Columbus Day is the wrong holiday, celebrated in the wrong way.  We should replace it with an Explorers Day devoted to the lives of those people who have helped shaped the modern world.  And instead of shutting down our schools and national offices, let’s keep them open for work, study and thoughtful debate.  Let’s expand the list of people of note, and talk about what makes them earn a memory that lasts long after their time is gone.

            Study an explorer to keep the faith.