On the fourth Friday in September, on the steps of the California Capitol hundreds of Indigenous people from tribes all over California gather to celebrate California Native American Day – a day that recognizes the countless contributions and endurance of California’s Indigenous people. But inside the capitol, the statue Columbus’ Last Appeal to Queen Isabella has prominently occupied the first-floor rotunda since 1883. A reminder of imperialism, colonialism, genocide, bloodshed, rape, pedophilia, and enslavement of our Indigenous ancestors. It is time for California to erase the glorification of Christopher Columbus and the false narrative that he discovered America. Instead, they need to acknowledge that upon Christopher Columbus’ landing, Indigenous people suffered injustice, exploitation, and genocide through slavery, forced removal, involuntary relocation, war, broken treaties, rape, and the implementation of laws and policies to support such exploits by the United States of America. Because of these exploits, indigenous people today, experience psychological, intergenerational, and historical trauma and the loss of culture, language, identity, and resources.

We, the undersigned, call upon Governor Newsom and California State Legislature to remove the statue Columbus’ Last Appeal to Queen Isabella from the Capitol immediately and replace it with a statue honoring our California Indigenous People.