Columbus and Arawak Genocide

​(First published on Facebook 2/18/21)

You guys know how every year a bunch of people are like, “To hell with Columbus Day! Tear down the statues!” and then a bunch of other people come back with “No! It’s our history! We can’t just forget it!”

I’ve been doing a little reading about that history (although I’m told that monuments and flags are better sources than books), and I thought I would share some tidbits.

(Quote excerpts from Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” originally published in 1980)

Our story begins in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue… financed by Spain in search of gold.

He first set foot on land in what is now known as Venezuela. He was greeted by the Arawak (Taino) Natives and noticed that they wore gold ornamental earrings. Cha-ching! He was sure he literally struck gold on his first try. He yanked some of the men who came to greet him on board the ship and demanded they lead him to the gold. When they didn’t, he sailed to Cuba and then to Hispaniola (what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). This guy was convinced he was going to find fields full of gold.

He captured some more natives for good measure and hightailed it back to Spain where he embellished his stories and convinced the court to give him more money, more ships, and more men. He promised them endless gold and slaves in the name of Almighty God.

When he returned to his fort in ruins and most of his men dead or captured due to Arawak resistance, he realized the quest for gold was futile. But he could still pay back Spain in slaves. He started raiding Arawak villages:

“Trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks faced Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. When the Spaniards took prisoners they hanged them or burned them to death. Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began, with cassava poison. Infants were killed to save them from the Spaniards. In two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead.” (p.4)

The Spanish established colonies and estates known as “encomiendas.” They used them to keep indigenous people under control as a form of government sanctioned slavery.

“They were worked at a ferocious pace, and died by the thousands. By the year 1515, there were perhaps fifty thousand Indians left. By 1550, there were five hundred. A report of the year 1650 shows none of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the island.” (p.4)

While the Arawak were violently wiped from the island of Hispaniola, their descendants can still be found in other parts of South America**.

So there you have it - A very brief history of the guy credited with discovering America - in case we lose the statues honoring his memory and accidentally forget.

Get the book for yourself here (not an affiliate): https://www.amazon.com/.../B015XEWZHI/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

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