Hartford
Town Manager Leo Pullar said he is working out the legalities of how Hartford might officially recognize the second Monday in October as “Indigenous People’s Day,” rather than as Columbus Day, which is the name currently recognized by state and federal governments.
“We are still working on it,” Pullar said on Tuesday. “I have spoken to the state archaeologist to get his sense on the issue.”
The name change was initiated during an August Selectboard meeting when Pullar presented a calendar of municipal holidays for approval — a typically routine matter.
At the suggestion of Selectman Simon Dennis, the board voted, 4-2, to approve changing the holiday calendar to remove the holiday’s name, according to CATV video and minutes of the meeting.
The motion does not affect employee schedules. While many Hartford municipal employees will have a holiday on Monday, town offices will be open that day.
Members Dennis, Rebecca White, Dennis Brown and Alan Johnson voted in favor, while Sandy Mariotti and Mike Morris voted in opposition. Selectboard Chairman Dick Grassi was absent.
Members then asked Pullar to explore the idea of changing the name to Indigenous People’s Day.
Dennis argued that Columbus was “discriminatory, brutal in ways that have represented a U.S. persecution of the indigenous people that lived here. This is a dark mark on our historical legacy that we have not fully come to terms with as a country. And like slavery, like other things, these things don’t go away just because we ignore them.”
Before the vote, Morris and Mariotti argued against the motion.
“I am not comfortable with creating our own names for federal holidays,” Mariotti said. “Each holiday has a significant meaning for me personally.”
Vermont state law designates the second Monday in October as the official holiday of Columbus Day; however, it is not recognized as a paid holiday for state employees.
The debate in Hartford is part of a larger national discussion about Columbus Day, which was first recognized as a state holiday by Colorado in 1905 and as a federal holiday in 1971.
Beginning with Berkeley, Calif., in 1992, a small but growing number of communities have begun recognizing Indigenous People’s Day as a sort of cultural counter-programming to the official holiday.
This year, similar proposals are being considered or have been adopted in Cincinnati and Denver, as well as in Yakima, Wash.; Tompkins County, New York; and Carrboro and Chapel Hill, N.C. Oklahoma City has twice rejected a similar proposal.
On Tuesday, Grassi, who is Italian-American, said he had an opinion about the change, but that he preferred to wait to voice that opinion until Pullar makes his report to the Selectboard.
“I better hold my tongue right now,” he said.
Morris said his views of Columbus largely have been shaped by what he learned in the classroom.
“I’m naive about what Columbus did,” he said. “He was the one who was given credit, and that’s the way it was for a long time.”
He said he doesn’t want his position to be mistaken for bigotry; to him, it’s simply a matter of continuing a holiday he has observed since childhood.
“I guess I’m a traditionalist in many ways,” Morris said. “I’m tired of everybody trying to change everything. This whole world, it seems like nobody’s happy with the way it is.”
Morris said that changing the name wouldn’t be even-handed, because many historical figures could be recast in a negative way.
“This is the last thing I thought I’d be talking about when I got elected,” Morris said.
Contemporary historians have levied many accusations against Columbus, including conducting a campaign of slavery and genocide against the Taino, the original inhabitants of Hispaniola, the island that now includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The late Howard Zinn, a historian and social activist, cited a contemporary account of Columbus that describes a system in which natives over the age of 13 were required to bring authorities a quarterly quota of gold dust; those who failed had their hands amputated and were left to bleed to death.
Martha Knapp, executive director of the Hartford Historical Society, lauded the change.
“Columbus was not a great guy, nor any of the people who came over and stole all the land from the Indians. Come on,” she said. “We’ve all done our damage and we all have Indian blood in us, probably. We’re all in the same boat.”
Academics estimate that the Taino numbered around 300,000 when Columbus first landed there in 1492; by 1548, fewer than 500 remained, with their dramatic decline attributed to a combination of active genocide, forced harsh labor and disease.
Others continue to defend Columbus, who has long been a source of pride for Italian-Americans.
“The reputation of Columbus has suffered at the hands of special interest groups who have used this 15th-century Renaissance navigator to further their 21st-century political and social agendas,” according to a position statement published by the Order Sons of Italy in America, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents the interests of an estimated 26 million Italian-Americans.
The paper, which accuses the Taino of engaging in cannibalism and other reprehensible practices, disputes some atrocities attributed to Columbus and recasts others. It notes that his involvement in the slave trade, for example, was in keeping with the practice of capturing prisoners of war.
Not surprisingly, Hartford residents’ opinions varied greatly.
At the VFW Post 2571 in downtown White River Junction on Tuesday afternoon, the idea of giving up the traditional holiday was met with snorts of derision by the men and women sitting at the bar.
“Leave it the way it is,” said Terry Maxwell, a Hartford resident. “It’s been in the history for years. Why change it now?”
Sitting next to her, Wendell MacMillan said the Selectboard should reconsider the idea.
“You can call me an indigenous taxpayer,” he said. “And I wouldn’t go along with that.”
MacMillan said any crimes Columbus may have committed against Native Americans pale in comparison with those of the U.S. government.
He sees it as part of a larger effort by the American left to take away the country’s time-honored traditions and holidays.
“I think this political garbage has gone crazy,” he said.
Just a block away, a group of Center for Cartoon Studies students standing on the corner and chatting had the exact opposite reaction.
“I think it’s long overdue,” said Luke Howard, of White River Junction. “It’s a public recognition of the atrocities of explorers. History has long treated them as finding an amazing new frontier when there were people here already.”
Jon Chadurjian said people who grew up without the opportunity to learn about the dark side of Columbus shouldn’t feel attacked.
“It’s OK to change your opinion,” he said. “It’s OK to grow.”
Others said they didn’t feel strongly one way or the other. Some said the holiday bears such a weak relationship to the historical figure that they felt no particular need to change it.
“I think that sometimes there’s a benefit in following tradition,” said Talia Audley, a nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who lives in White River Junction.
Others said they’d like to see a middle ground that recognized both the achievements and shortcomings of the explorer.
“I’d think it would be good to honestly portray the holiday and not just glorify him,” said Christopher Vincent, a chef from Chester, Vt., who was waiting for the Tuckerbox cafe to open. “Just give a fair representation.”
Pullar said that while the town’s budget season has taken a higher priority than the Columbus Day controversy, he still plans to present a report to the Selectboard at an upcoming meeting.
“There’s still a lot of homework left at this point,” he said.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.
Correction
While many Hartford municipal employees will have a holiday on Monday for Columbus Day, town offices will be open that day. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the offices would be closed.