Progress Through Reflection: A Holiday with Complex History
No video today, folks. It's a bank holiday here in the USA, Indigenous Peoples' Day, also known as Columbus Day. I try to keep things non-political on this website, but today, I want to acknowledge the complexities of this holiday.
Columbus' arrival in the Americas undeniably marked the start of profound and often painful changes for Indigenous communities, including forced religious conversion and the spread of foreign influences by violent means. So, while I recognize the historical significance of Columbus' voyages, I also choose to honor Indigenous peoples for their resilience, rich cultures, and lasting contributions to our shared history.
For me, it's about acknowledging both sides and learning from them as we move forward. I firmly believe that science, reason, and education are the only ways we can truly progress as a species, and that understanding our past mistakes is essential as we boldly go into the future, embracing what we learn and striving to make a positive difference to humanity.
Jennifer Neighbors
@Reply 9 months ago
Wise words. Thank you for posting this!
Sami Shamma
@Reply 9 months ago
Richard, I would add justice to your list (science, reason, and education) as the way forward for humanity.
Thomas Gonder
@Reply 9 months ago
My father, an educator, historian, author and world navigator (USCG unlimited tonnage, any ocean) was an expert in Cristoforo Colombo. Also 75% indigenous (as his grandfather, a Cherokee chief, was actually Scottish with a native wife). He read all the diaries of the Colombo. Dad would regale us with stories of Cristoforo's youth, voyages and horrible deeds in the New World. We, his family, didn't pay much attention to dad and his lectures. Others paid to hear them. Oh well, we learn too late I suppose.
It's a holiday here in Colombia too. The Day of Races or 'El d'a de la Raza y de la Hispanidad'. It celebrates all of the complexities of the Christoforo discovery and ramifications. I'm celebrating by creating more errors in Access, so I can learn from them (almost done with qc validation of version 1_23 of the ADS). Boldly onward Richard.
Thomas Gonder
@Reply 9 months ago
@ Sami, Justice like utopia is a myth. It ranks up there with "no hungry children" and "no poor people". Will never happen. Look up the "Cartel de la Toga". After reading about it, I doubted the idea of justice. After watching exposes on Clarence Thomas...
Sorry Richard, it's more history than it is politics.
Sami Shamma
@Reply 9 months ago
I think we should end this discussion before someone's feelings get hurt.
Kevin Yip
@Reply 9 months ago
Native Americans share some common ancestry with people in northeast Asia, in places like Mongolia. The Mongolians once ruled China during the reigns of the great Khans like Genghis and Kublai. Their penchant for exploration was likely why their descendants traveled from Asia to as far as North America, when the two continents were still connected. When sea levels rose, the Bering Strait was formed, separating Asia and the Americas, thus stranding an entire people from the rest of the world -- until Columbus discovered them.
Thomas Gonder
@Reply 9 months ago
@ Sami We're all adults here. Facts and logic rule over emotions, Time for Richard's Spock impersonation.
Thomas Gonder
@Reply 9 months ago
@ Kevin Y Didn't the Bering Strait migration happen tens of thousands of years before the Khans?
John Davy
@Reply 9 months ago
Many forgot that the Vikings were here 500 years before Columbus! John
I think Kevin was trying to say the ancestors of the Khans had the penchant for exploration. I think that's true for most ancient peoples.
From GPT:
The migration across the Bering Strait occurred well before the time of the Khans in Mongolia.
The Bering Strait migration is believed to have taken place between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, when a land bridge called Beringia connected Siberia in Asia to Alaska in North America. This migration allowed people to move from Asia into North America, marking the earliest known human settlement of the Americas.
The Mongol Empire, led by Genghis Khan, began in the 13th century CE (1206 CE, to be specific). This means the Bering Strait migration happened tens of thousands of years before the rise of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire's expansion and influence peaked during the 13th and 14th centuries, spreading across much of Asia and into parts of Europe.
To put it into perspective:
Bering Strait Migration: Roughly 15,000 to 20,000 years ago (between 18,000 BCE and 13,000 BCE).
Time of the Khans: The Mongol Empire emerged in the early 13th century CE, specifically around 1206 CE, with Genghis Khan uniting the Mongol tribes.
The two events are separated by a vast amount of time, with the Bering Strait migration preceding the Mongol era by thousands of years. The migration was part of the peopling of the Americas, while the Mongol Empire represented a significant geopolitical force in the medieval world.
And I don't mind a little conversation about politics and such here in the Captain's Log. I did, after all, bring up the topic. I just ask that you keep it civil. We're all mature, intelligent adults here. I certainly won't tolerate any "keyboard warriors" who make ad hominem insults. But yeah, be nice.
Thomas Gonder
@Reply 9 months ago
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