Another Columbus Day passed by this week, leaving me (and many others) still wondering what to make of the day. The holiday, of course, marks the date that Christopher Columbus discovered North America. However, the validity of a celebration of that anniversary is problematic for some. It was first questioned in the late 19th century as Nativists saw it as a way for Catholics to take over the country (Knights of Columbus anyone?). Columbus Day came under still greater speculation during the politically correct heyday of the late 1990s.Columbus Day did not become a national holiday until 1907 in the United States, but we Americans have been celebrating it for centuries. It’s also a national holiday in Spain, but in Venezuela the holiday is now considered a day of resistance by native people against the European invaders. Coincidentally, Venezuelans actually toppled a statue of Columbus almost on the same day as Iraqis toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein, on October 12, 2004.
Even more confusing than the controversy over Columbus Day is that we still celebrate the day on the second Monday of October, as the original day of Columbus’s arrival was on October 12, 1492. However, that was on the Julian calendar. In modern times we follow the Gregorian calendar, which sets the date at October 21, 1492.
If this all has you a little confused, don’t even think about the fact that Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on this day. Let’s all just agree to disagree on the importance of Columbus Day, and move on to Christmas . . . I mean the holiday season!
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