Indigenous Peoples Day

Seattle Mayor declares ‘ Indigenous People’s Day’.

We have just celebrated Columbus Day, but now this very same day has another function!

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  A day  to reflect on the history of those inhabitants who were uprooted and mistreated through history by others wishing to take control.Although unofficial, the second Monday in October  in Seattle is now Indigenous Peoples’ Day. as Mayor Ed Murray has decreed. 

Native American youth on drums opening the ceremony

The event was a result of local Native American’ efforts for an annual reminder of the harm inflicted on Native Americans by European newcomers such as the explorer Christopher Columbus

Who knew?

 We have celebrated Columbus Day for years, however others have questioned the traditionally known happenings in history and have read of the treatment meted out by “the discoverers” that has not been beneficial to the ‘indigenous  people’. Slowly, the truth has becomes known and the victims recognized. However, the question remains, who really were these ‘original people’ and where did they come from? Columbus thought he was on the edge of India, hence the name ‘Indians’. However, these early ‘Indians’ might have arrived from the far north. 

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The Ice Age found  humans scrambling for food as they followed their prey. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat of the great inland ice sheets, the earliest

inhabitants migrated north into the territory which is now Norway. They traveled steadily   northwards along the coastal areas, warmed by the Gulf Stream, where life was more bearable. In order to survive, they fished and hunted reindeer and other prey. Between 5,000 BC and 4,000 BC, the earliest agricultural settlements appeared around the Oslofjord. 

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The Migration Period, also known as the period of  barbarian invasions or as the Völkerwanderung ("migration of peoples" in German), was a period of  human migration in Europe from about 376 to 800 AD . Everyone was moving to survive the weather and their enemies.The migrants who came first were Germanic tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Franks; they were later

pushed westwards by the Huns, etc.The Hamburg culture (13,500-11,100 BC) was a culture of reindeer hunters in northwestern Europe probably following the reindeer into present Sami

territory.The first people arrived in Norway after 7,000 BC when rising temperatures after the end of the last ice age made the country habitable. These first Norwegians lived by hunting (elk, deer, seal and whales) and by fishing.The modern  ‘Old Norse’ is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and overseas settlements during the Viking Age until about 1300.Today, Old Norse has developed into the modern North Germanic languages (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish and Sweden)

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When ‘discoverers’ found the Bering Strait land bridge, they more than likely followed it westerly and south. Our American Indigenous People might  be descendants from these travelers as they mixed with travelers paddling from the south. The American Melting-Pot had an early beginning

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When American tourists meet Norwegians in trips to Norway, language becomes an issue.Asking “Snakker du engelsk?” to an elder in Norway,  the answer  “Nei, Jeg snakker norsk” might be heard from a native fairly close to those ‘indigenous people’. However, asking the same question to a younger person would probably result in  their answer with a smile “ Of course, how can I help you?” Norwegian young people speak better English than many of us in America! We have many misconceptions of our superiority, wealth and attitude.

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Many believe Norway and Scandinavian neighbors  are wet and cold countries.The average winter temperature in Oslo, Norway is only about minus 4 degrees Celsius (around 23° our Fahrenheit), which is a bit warmer than the winter temperatures of most American and European cities.July is the hottest month in North Cape with an average temperature of 54°F (12°C) and the coldest is January at 27°F (-3°C) . (It gets colder during Wisconsin’s winter!). 

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  The southern and  the most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate.   Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has relatively mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Geothermal energy is located along the Mid Atlantic ridge - a deep sea mountain range with a high concentration of volcanoes. Specifically, Iceland gets most of its heating and electricity from five power/heating plants that are

located east of Reykjavik in a particularly geothermal energy-rich area and visitors relax in the warm, healthy  spas. Here in America, we enjoy the geothermal energy at Yellowstone National Park, but federal regulations forbid drilling and utilizing the energy.      

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 Mentioning IKEA brings up beliefs of a Swedish Company owned by Sweden.  While most consider Sweden to be the sole “Owner” of this franchise, IKEA stores are located in many countries. Most of IKEA's operations, including the management of the majority of its stores, the design and manufacture of itsproducts are overseen by a private, for-profit Dutch company.  the IKEA trademark and concept is owned by an entirely separate Dutch company Inter IKEA Systems.Since 1982, the IKEA Group has been owned by a foundation in the Netherlands. 

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And Iceland? 

That must be a cold ice-covered place! Who’d want to visit there? Reykjavik, the capitol of Iceland is known for its famous spas and steamy thermal heat. No need to shovel snow off sidewalks. Nature melts it. Geothermal heat originally comes from the Earth's core, where temperatures may reach 4,000-7,000°C. This heat can come to the surface  in the form of  hot water that seeps through fissures, cracks and permeable rock

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 Perhaps, our feeling of superiority is unfounded. While fiction is more interesting than facts, we might learn something from our ‘Indigenous People’ with a bit more respect.

 Hopefully, the observance of ‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ will become the norm and a federal holiday on the second monday in October every year.

Sorry, Chris.

Really?

 Sometimes it is difficult to sort out the facts from fiction. Beliefs and legends sometimes get confusing.

Soon, we will  enjoy a national holiday called “ Columbus Day”. The day  we chose to recognize ’The Discoverer of  America'. We learned in our elementary school days that “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” in his famous three ships named ‘Nina’, ‘Pinta’ and ‘The Santa Maria”.   A catchphrase designed to help cement that fact into our memory.

Christopher Columbus

When Christopher landed, he was greeted by  “Indians”, the local inhabitants who were not happy to learn more about this visitor as time went on. However, Columbus gets the credit for ‘Discovering America’ and the story is repeated every year in October.

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Leif Erikson

Every red-blooded  American-Norwegian knows that Columbus was far from being  the first European to find these shores. That distinction goes to the Vikings, the legendary Norse warriors and explorers who were raiding and settling many parts of the world from the late 8th to mid 11th century. And so it was the Vikings, not Columbus, who first made contact with the ‘Indians’. It is believed that Norse explorer Leif Erikson  reached Canada perhaps 500 years before Columbus was born. We don’t take the day off, but we will quietly celebrate ‘Leif Erikson Day’ October 9th.  Erikson  is a patronymic and not a family name. (he’s literally Erik’s son’). Evidence seems to point to Vikings making contact with American Indians back in the 10th century, as they explored the northeast coast of America, what they called Vineland (or Vinland).

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Every European ‘Discoverer’ was met by the local inhabitants known as ‘Indians”. Research and artifacts  left behind  have been found in both North and South America and dated to 14,000 BP,( present time). Asian nomads are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge while the water levels were much lower. Beringia, now the Bering Strait was used as travelers continued  along the coast. Even the Vikings were not the first to set foot on the New World.

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Vikings roamed the European coasts  as settlers as well as raiders. Some did not wish to submit to the wishes of their rulers. Many left their land due to the tyrannical reign of Harald Hårfagre, who united all the petty kingdoms under his rule. Many Norwegian chieftains who were wealthy and respected posed a threat to Harald; therefore, they were subjected to much harassment from Harald, prompting them to vacate the land.

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They, in turn, sailed to nearby islands where

various settlements were established. These ‘settlers’ came into contact with the ‘natives’, who for the most part, were routinely dispatched when found. One of these island refuges was a group of  18 islands situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland and also close to England. This group of islands became known as The Faroe Islands whose inhabitants were religious and solitary beings thought to be
from England, quietly  living their  anchoritic life , one of the earliest forms of Christian monastic living. Anchorites were supposed to remain in their cells in all eventualities. Their survival in encounters with the wild Viking visitors more than likely resulted in escaping across the Atlantic, perhaps becoming ‘Indians of North America’.

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The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Danish Realm since 1948.

The Danish name translates as "the islands of sheep". Norse settlement in these Islands can be traced back to sometime between the 9th and 10th centuries CE, with the first Viking to ever set foot on the Faroe Islands around the late 8th century. A Viking longhouse was unearthed during an excavation . Excavations continue, however little evidence of the earlier settlers is likely to be found, but archaeologists believe the anonymous people living in the bleak location in the 4th to 6th centuries AD must have been able to build boats and navigate the surrounding seas.

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The Faroes were the first stepping stone beyond Shetland for the travel of European people across the North Atlantic, continuing on the shores of continental North America in the 11th century AD, about 500 years before Columbus made his famous voyage.

These ‘Anonymous’ people, escaping the harsh treatment of the invading Vikings might have been groups of Europeans who traveled to settle elsewhere.  Early migrants from northeastern Asia could have walked to Alaska with relative ease when a land area now named Beringia was above sea level . This land bridge joined northeast Asia to modern Alaska and formed part of a much larger province called Beringa during the ice age.  20th century  travelers might have found additional
routes by which human beings first reached the Americas, following the southern coastline of Beringia and Alaska, then southward along the coast all the way to the southernmost tip of South America, establishing their new life just in time to greet their Spanish guests, the Italian Columbus and the Scandinavian Leif Erickson . When Columbus landed, he insisted that he was on the western side of "The Indies", so he eventually named the whole island chain "The West Indies". Of course, he called the natives "Indians".

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In this modern age,  in elementary school we still recognize Columbus as an important American
‘discoverer’. By the time we reached high school, we realized he didn’t even reach North America. Researching the event, we even

discovered his ships' names were different. The Santa Maria was known at the time as La Gallega, meaning “The Galician.” The Niña is now believed to be a nickname for a ship originally called the “Santa Clara”, and the Pinta was probably also a nickname, though the ship’s real name isn’t clear. We may have heard that his real name wasn’t even Columbus! Born in Italy, Cristoforo Colombo wanted ships to establish a "round-the-world" route to the wealth of the Indies. He could not get any backing from Italian nobles or merchants, so he went to Spain, and changed his name to Christopher Columbus . The King and Queen reluctantly provided the money and ships, sending  him and his crew sailing to ‘India’ to establish a shorter route to silks, spices and riches. 

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Leif Erickson sights land.

At least, Leif had a good idea where he was going, and the ‘Indians’, however named, were the 'Common Denominator’ in all events, always being the receivers on shore , and always getting ‘the short end of the stick!”

                                 But our history books scarcely recognize Leif Erickson while  Columbus’ journey is highlighted. Columbus even named the inhabitants who greeted the voyagers and the 'Indian' label of the Original Native American has never been changed.

            Happy Cristoforo Colombo Day!