A noticeable trend has emerged in recent years as more and more cities in the United States drop “Columbus Day” in favor of “Indigenous Peoples Day.” This name change is considered to be a great improvement by those who know that Columbus Day stands for a bloody expansion of empire and colonization. He stands for the decimation our ancestors, and the devastation of our nations and peoples. He stands for a legacy of genocide.

One way of characterizing the Columbian legacy is this: When Columbus named that first island “San Salvador” (Holy Savior), he began the process of using the human imagination to impose the dominating metaphors of Western Christendom on our nations, our ancestors, and our lands. Christendom’s imposed system of metaphors and resulting bloodshed can also be understood as a system of domination and dehumanization carried forward by the people of Christendom to advance the Empire Domination Model of Christianity. Now we are being told that one way to turn our backs on that dark and bloody legacy is by getting rid of the holiday named after Columbus, the “patron saint,” so to speak, of that history of death and colonization.

Before we move further in the direction of “Indigenous Peoples Day,” however, perhaps it would be wise to remember Dakota poet and philosopher John Trudell’s warning about what happens when, “They change the name and treat us the same.” The existing foundation of the system continues unabated because the name change is only a surface level revision.