Monday open thread: Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

I had no idea I had indigenous heritage until I took a DNA test. My reason for not knowing was quite simple: I'm Cuban, and the native Taino were all wiped out by the Spanish colonists, either through outright murder, slavery, or disease.

Guajiro is a term used for Cuban peasants. It wasn't until recently, much to my chagrin, that I discovered the term's origin. To make up for the loss of native Taino, the Spanish colonizers imported indigenous people from the Guajira region of Venezuela. (Spain would soon solve its labor problem through African slavery. But that's another post.) This is how I came to have an indigenous ancestry of which I had no idea.

We can discuss Christopher Columbus, the man who didn't discover the Americas, and his crimes another day. Today is a day to celebrate the resistance and resiliency of the First Peoples. 

History needs the voices of those oppressed more than those who oppressed. Reimagining what used to be a day celebrating a murderer into a day celebrating those who suffered under him is part of that process.

This is your open thread.