It is Indigenous People’s Day.  Many of us are old enough to remember when this day was known exclusively as “Columbus Day,” and in some sectors, it is still called that.  I fully support the change of the name of this holiday.  Christopher Columbus, though he no doubt did something bold and transformative, had imperialist and chauvinist views that are abhorrent to myself and to modern mores in general.  He had no compunction against enslaving and exploiting those whom he regarded as “inferior” and “primitive.”  Besides, he never actually realized what he had done – found a continent previously unknown to Europeans, and he never realized he had failed to find a new route to the Indies.  And besides, it was MY ancestors, the Vikings, who were the first Europeans to find what would be called the “Americas,” (though some say the discovery goes back even earlier.)  

In spite of all these objections to the famous explorer, I wish to bring up an important story from the biography of Columbus, one you have probably heard, and one that relates to an eclipse, except that, in this story, the eclipse was a lunar eclipse.  Due to worms eating his ships, Columbus and his crew had to stay with a tribe of natives known as the Arawak in what is now called Jamaica.  The Arawak were hospitable at first, but after a while, the Europeans wore out their welcome, and the natives stopped giving the castaways food. Now, Columbus had an almanac that all sailors would have carried at the time, an almanac that contained valuable data about the sun, moon, and stars.  This almanac predicted that there was to be a total lunar eclipse.  Columbus told the Arawak that his Christian god was going to punish them by destroying the moon if they did not provide his crew with food.  When the moon indeed started to vanish and turn red as blood, the Arawak were terrified, and promised to bring food.  Columbus assured them he would pray for the restoration of the moon, and when, the moon in fact returned, the Arawak took it as a sign that God, or the gods, demanded they give the castaways food.     

This story of Columbus; whether historians agree it is factual or not, is a story of deception for the purpose of exploitation.   Columbus used his knowledge of science and a distorted presentation of his religion to manipulate the natives into giving him what his crew required.  It is also a story that demonstrates truth in the age-old adage, “knowledge is power.”  Columbus used the knowledge he had available to gain power.

In modern times, the discipline of astronomy can predict a total solar eclipse down to the second.  We, the Humans of Western New York, are potentially beneficiaries of this knowledge, and indeed, all those who shall come to Erie County to witness the eclipse are beneficiaries.  April 8 2024 could be a great day for Western New York, and for all who come.  Unlike Columbus, we inhabitants are the ones who must be hospitable, hospitable to outsiders in our midst.  Many of us have a genuine and undistorted religious belief that we should be so.  Our knowledge gives us power, but it is not the power to distort and exploit, it is the power to prepare and provide.  There is no need for anyone to exploit anyone else, and it would be immoral to do so.  Quite the contrary, we should perceive the coming eclipse as for all citizens of the solar system to enjoy, and we should find ways for as many to come to our county as possible.  We should look at this very special time we live in as a time when all humanity might be lifted up.  Let there be plenty of food, housing, and entertainment made ready for our guests.  Though no “New World” is getting discovered, possibly Western New York will feel like a new place on eclipse day, and henceforward.  Let us take a page from Columbus, but in a humanitarian way.  Let us be benefactors to the coming umbraphiles in Buffalo.