Table of Contents
Music Clip
Songtext
Translation
Global New Generation, 2021
COLUMBUS GOT COMPLETELY LOST
A man who called himself Colum-bus,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
He’s known because of songs like this,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
But is that really all so true?
Do you know what he tried to do?
Gloria, Victoria, Columbus had a mighty plan:
Gloria, Victoria, “I’ll be the king of India’s land!”
He made a deal with Spain’s crowned pair,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
But they never aimed for over there!
Wittywittywham bam bam.
They wanted spices, gold, and tea—
From India, a new colony!
Gloria, Victoria, but what’s the truth we’ve come to know?
Gloria, Victoria, does anyone know how it did go?
[PAUSE]
He gathered 90 men with pride,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
And three small ships set out to ride,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
Then one day he cried, “I see land!”
“India—it’s just as I planned!”
Gloria, Victoria, Columbus got it all confused!
Gloria, Victoria, but no one told the awful news!
Who is this man with skin so pale?
Wittywittywham bam bam.
He plants his flag and tells a tale,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
He might be kind, they thought at first—
“Sit down, have food, come quench your thirst!”
Welcome, welcome, come join us here, don’t be so shy!
Welcome, welcome, come share our meal, give peace a try!
With Bible held in steady hand,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
He said it’s for the royal land,
Wittywittywham bam bam.
But then came shouting, fear and cries—
The strangers fired before goodbyes.
Oh, I feel so heavy, my brothers taken far away.
Oh, I feel so heavy, Mama, what happened here today?
[PAUSE]
Columbus, what was in your mind?
How many lives did you leave behind?
He thought that he was brave and bold—
But all he craved was power and gold.
Oh, I feel so heavy, thinking of the times gone by.
What we learned in school was wrong—I almost believed the lie.
Until the lions have their own historians, history will always glorify the hunter.
America
America is a vast continent where many different nations and cultures have lived for around 15,000 years. Most of these nations understand that the Earth does not belong to humans—instead, we are part of a greater ecosystem, and we should therefore respect nature.
The West Indies are a group of islands in North America. They got their name from a sailor who mistakenly believed he had landed in (West) India. The islands are still called the “West Indies” today because history was written by Europeans, who systematically erased all other stories—especially those of Indigenous peoples.
In the year 1492, after months at sea, a group of Spaniards landed on the coast of the Americas. They were warmly welcomed and cared for by the people living there. The Spaniards were in poor condition: starving, sick, and feverish. Many of the Indigenous inhabitants became infected. Although the Spaniards were not the first visitors to the continent, they were later celebrated by Europeans as “the discoverers.”
"The people we now call Taíno were, in reality, the ones who discovered Columbus and the Spaniards. We were not discovered—we were already home, while the men at sea were lost when they landed on our shores. That’s how we see it—but history records us as the ones who were 'discovered.' The Taíno are one of many nations in the Caribbean who speak Arawakan languages. Over the course of 4,000 years, they migrated from South America. When the Spaniards landed in the Caribbean in 1492, they were hoping to find gold and exotic spices—but there was little gold, and the spices they sought were unknown here. Columbus then turned to the next best thing for trade: the trafficking of enslaved people. We survived because many of our ancestors fled into the mountains."
Columbus also claimed that he had been welcomed by the people he called the “Taínos.” He then simply referred to all the inhabitants of the region as “Taínos.” In reality, the Taíno were only one part of a much larger population.
In 1492, about 300,000 people—some estimates say up to one million—lived in the so-called “West Indies.” They were organized into five major groups and shared certain cultural traits, including Arawakan languages.
People who lived in North America at that time
People who lived in South America at that time
You might be wondering: How is that even possible? How can a few hundred people oppress 10,000 others?
The Spaniards were ruthless. They had guns and fired without mercy. They made promises and treaties—then broke them. They took land through deceit or by force. They tore Indigenous children away from their parents and sent them to schools far away. The connection between parents and children was completely severed.
Residential schools
These Residential Schools—or Christian boarding schools—were established by settlers and colonizers from around 1880 in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.
In Canada alone, at least 150,000 children from many different Indigenous families were forced to attend these schools.
The purpose of these schools was to break the spirit of Indigenous peoples—to destroy their pride, erase their stories and cultures. Students were no longer allowed to speak their mother tongues—only English or French. Their own spiritual beliefs were forbidden; they were forced to pray to Jesus morning, noon, and night. History lessons focused solely on white colonial history. The ancestors of Indigenous children were only mentioned as the defeated.
If the children disobeyed, they were brutally punished. But even those who “behaved” were severely abused. Many died as a result. In this way, countless children lost their identity, their self-confidence, and their inner strength.
The last of these schools did not close until the 1990s.
For years, survivors spoke of how many children had died in these schools and had been buried in unmarked graves. For years, no one believed them. Only now are more and more graves being found on school grounds. Indigenous-led investigations across the Americas have uncovered evidence of more than 1,100 graves so far—and the number continues to grow.
Tragically, there are still reports today of institutions in many parts of the world that bear disturbing similarities to Canada’s Residential Schools.
Orange Shirt Day
Orange Shirt Day is a day of remembrance held every year on September 30th in Canada. It honors all the Indigenous children who died in residential schools across the country.
Phyllis Jack Webstad, an Elder from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, initiated Orange Shirt Day in 2013 after publicly sharing her childhood experiences at a residential school. On the day she was taken from her family, the school staff took away her favorite orange shirt.
The I-Word
Why don’t we call the Indigenous peoples of the Americas “Indians”?
“Indian” is an external label. This means that the Indigenous peoples of the Americas never called themselves that—it was a name given by colonizers.
Columbus set out to sail to India to find gold and exotic spices for the Spanish queen. When he finally sighted land, he believed he had succeeded and simply called the people he met “Indians” because he thought he had reached India.
But the people living there had their own names and languages!
At that time, the continent wasn’t called “America” either. There was no single, unified name for it.
Take a look at the map.
The people on the American continent all lived in their own countries and did not like being called just one single people… Imagine if someone came up to you and suddenly said you had a different name. That just wouldn’t be right!
If we need or want to name all the inhabitants of the old Americas together, we call them “Indigenous peoples of the Americas” or “Native Americans” in English.
There are more than 570 federally recognized Indigenous nations in the USA, each with their own unique cultures, traditions, beliefs, languages, and histories.
Before colonialism, about 300 Indigenous languages were spoken; today, only around 167 remain.
The traditions of Indigenous peoples in the Americas vary greatly from culture to culture because they come from different geographic regions and nations.
Music is almost always a part of daily life. Drums and rattles are the most commonly used instruments, along with bells, clapsticks, whistles, flutes, and string instruments. Various spiritual ceremonies, dances, and rituals are often important parts of these cultures. Some of the dances include the Rain Dance, Sun Dance, War Dance, Ghost Dance, and Buffalo Dance.
Some traditions and beliefs are based on shamanism: medicine men and medicine women act as intermediaries between the spirit world and the visible world. It is believed that they have the power to heal the sick, see the future, and control the hunt.
It is important to remember that Indigenous peoples of the Americas do not share just one single religion.
Indigenous Peoples Day
In 1934, the President of the United States declared the second Monday in October as “Columbus Day.” The white settlers simply claimed it was a “New World.” The Indigenous peoples of the Americas were never asked for their opinion — otherwise, this would never have happened.
But Indigenous peoples protested and fought for centuries to have the truth recognized: that Columbus did not discover America, but instead occupied, murdered, and plundered the land.
Finally, in 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s “discovery,” people in California began replacing “Columbus Day” with “Indigenous Peoples Day.”
“Indigenous Peoples Day” is a holiday meant to remind us that long before and after the colonization, many people lived on this land and continue to live here today. The day is also called First Peoples Day, National Indigenous Peoples Day, or Native American Day. It honors and recognizes the original inhabitants of the continent.
Unfortunately, many people still celebrate “Columbus Day” to this day.
Trail of Tears
Through coercion, President Andrew Jackson forced many Indigenous peoples (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Choctaw) to sign the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
The Indigenous peoples were forced to move to mostly barren desert areas without clean drinking water, so that white settlers could take the fertile land for themselves.
Those who refused to leave were forced out by brutal methods. Between 1830 and 1850, approximately 100,000 people were relocated. The promises that the Indigenous peoples would be taken care of were lies. Nearly 4,000 died from disease, malnutrition, and lack of shelter.
The living conditions in the relocation areas, called reservations, remain disastrous to this day.
To acknowledge and remember the history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, there is a hiking trail called the “Trail of Tears.”
In the Cherokee language, it is called “Nunna daul Tsuny” — meaning “the trail where they cried.” It is the path Indigenous peoples were forced to walk to relocate to reservations.
In Springfield, Missouri, this trail stretches 8,119.14 kilometers and is open for everyone to hike. The Trail of Tears marks an important and painful part of history.
Summary
White settlers came to this continent, claimed it as their property, and named it America. Yet there were already hundreds of different nations here, each with their own religions, political systems, and ways of life — all based on the understanding and knowledge that the Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth.
The colonizers used their weapons to terrorize these peoples, whom we now call Indigenous Americans, and took their lands away. Indigenous Americans were forced off their land, families were separated, and their cultures were forbidden. Much harm was done — and continues to be done — by white settlers.
What do you think should be done to improve the situation for future generations?
The Speaker
My name is Naeemah Siemsen, I’m 27 years old, and I’m a singer from Berlin. Since April of last year, I’ve been working with Global New Generation, and before that, I was involved as a volunteer. The topics we work on here are very important to me. I believe that changing perspectives is essential to reveal the truth of our world’s history, especially for children and young people. Embracing change in a positive way is crucial.
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