Far past time, really. Christopher Columbus didn’t even discover “America.” In fact, Amerigo Vespucci (for whom two continents have been named!) didn’t discover “America.” Scandinavians “discovered” Greenland, Iceland and, yes, the eastern coasts of Canada as far back as the ninth and tenth centuries, and after some failed colonization attempts in Iceland, continued trade well into the 14th century. (R. Riendeua, Brief History of Canada, 19-20) This was most assuredly not unknown by the entirety of the rest of Western Europe! Of course not, which partly explains the expeditions of Amerigo Vespucci the late 15th, early 16th centuries, the first being shortly after the (in)famous voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. (C.R. Markham, The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci and Other Documents Illustrative of His Career, “Introduction”)
Besides, as so many people have pointed out for years upon years now — generations, in fact — there were thriving cultures living here in Abya Yala, “one of the terms given to the pre-Columbian American continent by a group of native Americans called the Kuna people who inhabit Panama.” (Cf. Quora, “What did the native people call the American continents?“) What reason is there, then, to celebrate “Columbus Day?” I mean, it’s really laughable when you think about it… If we’re going to celebrate excursions by Western Europeans — and let’s not forget the Russians who were colonizing the Aleutian isles and western sections of Alaska — then why not Leif Erickson Day? Or Vespucci Day? Or Erik the Red Day? Or, to hell with it! Why not Western European Exploration-Exploitation Day! At least that would be more honest! So, anyway, with this I wish my readers…
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