Let’s Talk Columbus Day with Our Children

Columbus Day is a federal holiday in the United States and for most states across the nation, Columbus Day is an official holiday, often accompanied with a day off from school and (perhaps) work, depending on your employer. Some states and cities have opted to abolish Columbus Day and instead celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, which I think is a wonderful idea. Though I remember having Columbus Day off from school when I was in school, today is not a school holiday for my children. This means that at least for my oldest, there will probably be talk about Columbus sailing the ocean blue and “discovering” America, much like every year. And thus, our dinner tonight will likely include another discussion about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day, as our children try to make sense of the terrible history behind Columbus and reconcile that with what they are taught in school.

What Should You Share with Children About Christopher Columbus?

Being that our family is from the Caribbean and both of our islands (Puerto Rico and Trinidad) have a rich history of indigenous people, we make sure that our children know their heritage. That includes learning about the impact the Taíno and Carib Indians had on our respective islands and how their communities were affected by people like Columbus. We expand on what the school says about Christopher Columbus, by helping our kids understand more about the famous explorer. Here are a few facts we’ve shared so far with our children about Christopher Columbus.

1. Christopher Columbus did not discover America. While the discovery of America (the United States) is often attributed to Christopher Columbus, this is simply not true. He in fact first landed in what is now The Bahamas. Some may say he discovered “the Americas,” which would then include The Caribbean, but this is also not true when you consider that there were already many indigenous people living in this area.
2. Christopher Columbus did a lot of bad things. After he got lost and landed in the wrong place, Christopher Columbus did not simply move on with his explorations. He took advantage of the kindness of the people he met and in turn, hurt many, many, many indigenous people. For our 4-year-old, we shared that he hurt people and forced them to work without paying them. For our 9-year-old, the conversations over the years have progressed to her knowing that he enslaved, tortured, and killed many indigenous people.
3. History can be sad or infuriating, but it’s important to learn our history. A lot of times when we share some of the horrors of history with our oldest, she gets upset. It’s hard for her to understand why we want to talk about the terrible things that have happened in the past. We always remind her (and have started echoing the message with our youngest) that while history isn’t always pretty or nice, it’s important that we learn from it and a) see how far we’ve progressed and b) how much further we can still progress.

Since our kids are still fairly young (4 & 9), our conversations have been pretty basic. Even still, their knowledge of Christopher Columbus is deeper than what school teaches. Knowing the truth about the man that’s “celebrated” on Columbus Day is important for our children. They need to know how this history has helped shape many other things that still affect them and our society to this day.

To help your children learn more about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day, you may want to explore these books to encourage further conversations!

• Who Was Christopher Columbus? *
• You Wouldn’t Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus!
• Christopher Columbus (Step into Reading)

*Of the three books above, the only one I’m familiar with is Who Was Christopher Columbus? My 9-year-old read it and it was a good representation of the full truth behind Columbus. I haven’t explored the other two books with our children (yet), but they may be worth looking into. If you know more about them, let us know!

—- Read our previous post regarding Columbus Day! —-

What do you share with your children about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day?

Photo: Philip Clifford/Flickr