We come in peace.

I couldn't help notice the irony of reading a deeply troubling passage from my current reading material, which I'm ploughing through in preparation for my trip to the Dominican Republic in a couple of weeks, and watching a parade on Columbus Day, to celebrate the explorer's arrival into the New World in 1492.

While the colonisation of the Americas is broadly recognised as a good thing in the long term, and while we now have a multitude of committees, charities, and trusts set up to preserve the heritage of indigenous cultures, the initial outlook towards the native people of these countries was less than hospitable.

Colombus' reports regarding the people of Hispaniola, what is now the DR and Haiti, outlined two tribes (Taino and Carib) and highlighted their suitability for slavery, the Taino for their submissive and accomodating nature and the Carib, simply because he believed their 'barbaric' ways made them undeserving of anything more than subjugation.

So why is the day set aside for celebrating his achievements? Has Colombus been mythisised or assimilated into a fictional adventurer by those who retell the story with movies and novels? Is the spreading of European culture and religion a sufficient enough outcome to counter the atrocities of almost 500 years ago? I don't know and I'm not in a position to make a judgement on it even if I did have an inkling, so I'll just keep reading.