History of events behind Columbus Day would likely sadden those who support “freedom and justice for all”

While many Americans view Columbus Day as the recognition of cultural heritage, a number of American Indians, indigenous people, and U.S. citizens hold a vastly different view. “It is estimated that 85 percent of the American Indian population was wiped out in the 150 years following the arrival of Columbus,” says Dana Klar, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Today, the state of Minnesota does not celebrate Columbus Day and in South Dakota, a state with a large number of American Indians and reservations, Columbus Day is known as Native American Day. “It is time for this nation as a whole to follow suit,” Klar says.

Majority of American Indians move off reservations, but their cultural, financial services remain behind

Urban American Indian community centers help keep traditions alive.Urban American Indian community centers in the United States can look to their neighbors to the north for an example of how to create a strong national voice, says Dana Klar, J.D., founding and interim director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Today, nearly 60 percent of American Indians reside off-reservation, and because of that, the majority of American Indians do not have ready access to the cultural and financial services provided by tribal and federal agencies on the reservations. “We have more recently realized that a national organization can aid the individual centers in advocacy and policy development efforts that affect all urban American Indians,” Klar says. More…