All Nations Four Directions March
Denver is asked to join objections to Columbus Day parade content
by Carol Berry
DENVER – The city of Denver is gearing up for its annual pre-Columbus Day parade Oct. 11, an event that has placed Colorado’s capital squarely at the epicenter of a recurring debate about the Columbian legacy and the character of Christopher Columbus himself.
This year, the city-appointed Denver American Indian Commission appealed to Denver’s mayor and city council to support its concern about the parade’s content, which the commission said has become “increasingly anti-Indian.”
During the last decade in Denver, hundreds of arrests have occurred, hundreds of jail cells have been filled and hundreds of thousands of city dollars have been spent over street conflicts between city police and those who regard the use of the name “Columbus” for the parade as a tribute to the initiator of ethnic cleansing in Native North America and as a celebration of conquest.
Currently, the Native group has cited the past inclusion of horsemen dressed as U.S. Cavalry members and the possibility they would be a part of this year’s parade, as well.
The Indian advisory commission’s request for the city to distance itself from the parade because of offensive content was also sent to the city’s seven other target city commissions – the Office of Disability Support, the Commission on Aging, and the Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, GLBT, Women’s, and African American commissions.
The commissions are under the umbrella of Denver’s Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations, headed by Lucia Guzman, who said the city urged the Indian commission to “go to the parade organizers and see if we could bring about a conversation to end some of this.”
“The Columbus Day parade has become increasingly anti-Indian,” the Indian commission’s request notes in part, because the U.S. Cavalry evokes the “historical massacre of millions of Indians. This content is misplaced and unnecessary in a parade that is supposed to celebrate an admirable European culture.”
Denver was asked to distance itself from “damaging observances or other events that celebrate the domination, humiliation or marginalizing of indigenous people, communities represented by the HRCR [Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations] commissions, or other target groups,” but was not asked to deny “the rights of Europeans or others to celebrate their heritage.”
The Denver American Indian Advisory Commission’s request was forwarded to the mayor’s office but it was accompanied by only partial support from the wider HRCR commission, Guzman said, explaining that the joint commission included a couple of American Civil Liberties Union-affiliated members with First Amendment-related objections.
The request by the Indian commission would have had to be sent to the mayor with the joint HRCR commission’s unanimous backing in order to be considered for approval, she said.
“So, instead of that route, they [the city] suggested going back to the parade organizers for discussion and possible agreement on issues,” she said. The organizers agreed that U.S. Cavalry look-alikes would not be part of this year’s Columbus Day parade “as a commitment that is part of the mediation process.”
Parade organizers hold a city permit and can determine who participates in the parade, can set rules and regulations for the event, and can exclude anyone, she said.
Last year’s parade opposition led to the arrest of more than 80 people, most of whom were convicted on misdemeanor charges of interfering with a lawful assembly and blocking a street. Some of the convictions remain under appeal.
The arrests were made under city ordinances passed in 2006 that, for the first time, specifically targeted obstruction of roadways and disrupting legally sanctioned events.
Objections to the use of Columbus’ name for the Sons of Italy-sponsored parade began in 1990 and peaked in 1992 with demonstrations by more than 1,000 protesters, after which the parade was not held again until 2000. A protest encampment, marches, street theater and further demonstrations have occurred since that time.
Planned events this year by Native and other groups include a summit to be held Oct. 11 at Iliff School of Theology after a march to the state Capitol organized by the American Indian Movement – Colorado and the Transform Columbus Day Alliance. The summit is expected to cover indigenous issues and to involve various activist groups.
A student walkout was scheduled to take place at several campuses followed by a march Oct. 13, Columbus Day, from the
University of Colorado – Denver’s downtown campus to locations in the city where anti-Indian events have occurred in the past, ending at Civic Center Park.
Editor’s note: Carol Berry is a member of the Denver American Indian Commission and helped to prepare the request to the city.
