Debating Columbus' discovery

t:,yRegina Miller staffwrtfer

Christopher Columbus set his sights on :;:anown waters. Ferdinand and Isabel, the :anish rulers, supported Columbus into the Atlantic Ocean. Can it be considered a

"'--overywhen there were natives present?

His voyage in October 1492 marked the pnning of a vast Western empire. The ..nish wanted to establish a shorter route to rich spice markets of the East Indies. Inhe stumbled onto a New World. How h credit does he deserve?

Dr. Jolyon Girard, history professor, said, \n~·onewho taught you that Columbus sailed

.C5-Ito discover a new world was wrong. He West to discover a new world, to find a em route to Asia so Spain could have open :r::merce ties to the Indies, China, Japan and Spice Islands."

Girardsaid books written by people claimC.Olumbuswas a "lousy navigator" are inace. ·'He did make mistakes, but even by _.·s standards, with the equipment and logy he had available, he is still considgood," Girard said. .bmes Hedtke, political science professor, discussed Columbus' achievement.

Features

"First of all, the numbers of Native Americans are greatly overestimated," Hedtke said.

"Definite! y question the scope. The scope ends up to be 70 to 90 percent of people dying of disease."

Hedtke spoke of Columbus as an evangelist. "Columbuswasamanofhistime,"Hedtke said, "a time when Catholicism was up against Islam. He lived during the period of reformation versus counter reformation."

In the January/February issue of"Peace and Freedom," the magazine of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, writer Hans Koning claimed, "There is not one conversion of a Native American to Catholicism on record for Columbus's time. His was a trading expedition, and even that is a painful euphemism. He had nothing to trade but trinkets."

Girard explained the variety of interpretations of Columbus' importance.

"It depends on your heritage,'' Girard stated.

"It is very complicated. Italian Americans are happy that a Genoese opened up an entire hemisphere. Europeans appreciate the effort, but the Native Americans are upset''

Koning wrote. "And when it is asked why a man who has been dead for 486 years should be exposed, the answer is that not he, but we, this nation, its honor and its future, are on trial in 1992. He was but the foremost of the many false heroes who, with a false sense of courage and manliness, have burdened our national spirit. The very name 'Columbus Day' i5 still an insult to every native and black American, and indeed to all of us."

Hedtke's perspective lent an interesting twist. He claimed Columbus lacked intent, as far as native genocide. He said the Spanish may have assimilated the North Americans into Spanish culture but did not attempt to eliminate them. Hedtke stated, "There is a combination of both cultures that exists in Central and South America. This was not a holocaust where you see a separation of cultures.

"There was a type of enslavement used,"Hedtke continued."Why would you want them to die? You want them to work, not die.''

A process of eliminating myths in education was touched on by Bever!y Bryde, secondary education coordinator. She talks of the forces that assist in the dissipation of myths.

"The schools are trying to get a wider viewpoint," she said. "The time to introduce the controversy with the facts depends on the development readiness of the student."

Jeannine Zapiec, sophomore, said, in regard to Columbus Day, "Well, I get a day off,'' but, on a more serious note, "I truly believe in it, since the Indians were the first ones in America. That is if you think of it logical!y. ••

Micheal Furman, continuing education student, said, "I think that we should continue to celebrate Columbus Day. We need more threeday weekends. We need to put less emphasis on work and more on leisure time."'

Girard disregards the good guy-bad guy•· approach. "In history we do not use that approach." Girard said. "We use our interpretation of all the facts."

"No matter how you view it, Columbus had