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OBERLIN, Ohio – While the rest of the country paid tribute to Christopher Columbus, the town of Oberlin paid homage to its inhabitants on Monday before it arrived.
The second annual celebration of Aboriginal Peoples Day in Tappen Square attracted fewer than 50 people who were there to learn about the fate of the Indians.
"My people, the Tayno Arawaks, were the first to meet Columbus when he arrived in the neighboring islands of the Bahamas, and they were the first to be slaughtered by him," said Three Eagle Cloud, the 39, Oberlin man at the origin of the movement the city to change the day of Christopher Columbus in the day of the indigenous peoples. "Since then, we have been fired from the Bahamas to Alaska."
The attempt made by him and others to have the city honor its original inhabitants was in fact accepted fairly quickly in the city known for its liberal tendencies and for Oberlin College.
Councilwoman Kristin Peterson, who was elected to the council after the vote to change the vacation center, said there had been little discussion or disagreement among council members on the issue.
"The Council was 100% behind," she said. "It was a typical Oberlin affair." Of course, public discussions were another story.There was a bus of Cleveland Italo-Americans who attended the meetings. of counsel and who has argued long and hard against her. "
The motion was passed in 2017, a few weeks before the holidays. A small celebration took place this year, which, according to Jeff Pierce, spokesman for the Ohio American Indian Movement, will continue to grow over the next few years.
"Christopher Columbus was absolutely brutal with my people," said Pierce, an Apache Chiricahua. "How can you discover a country where people already live?"
Casey Tobik, of Lakewood, brought his 4-year-old son, Asa, to the rally so he could get acquainted with the culture.
"His Montessori school in Avon gave the children on the occasion of Indigenous Peoples Day and I thought we should come and see what it was all about," she said. .
Asa, with the help of his mother, said that he liked to watch the crafts for sale, especially painted turtle shells and necklaces.
Another of those who pushed Oberlin to become the first city in the state to replace Columbus Day with the Sundance Aboriginal Day, said he was proud of his city.
"Now, Cincinnati has done it too (last week), and we hope the movement continues to grow," he said.
According to the 2017 Time Magazine website, more than 50 cities in the United States now have Aboriginal Peoples Day.
Not everyone was happy with the new vacation. Two big blocks from Oberlin College's Tappen Square, on which messages about the new holidays were painted, were erased overnight.
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