Indigenous Peoples' day, Leif Ericson day, Canadian Thanksgiving, and Columbus day

Since we have four holidays today that are somewhat related to one another, I'm going to briefly talk about what I think of them. Lets start with the one I like the most.

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! (which should really be EVERY DAY :D ) 

October 9th is Indigenous People's Day. It's recognized by a lot of American cities. In Canada, National Aboriginal Day is on June 21st in the whole country. This year, Los Angeles will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day for the first time. Guess which organization that I'm obsessed with has been protesting in LA for years to make that happen.  

Leif Ericson Day

His name is spelled in a variety of ways. "Leifr Aeirikson" is probably the most accurate spelling but that's so extra. This Viking explorer established a settlement in northern Newfoundland 500 years before Columbus without committing mass genocide. I've always wanted to visit L'Anse aux meadows (the name of the ruins of the Viking settlement, which used to be known as Vinland). There is a very good chance he probably did kill some indigenous people, although there is no way of knowing for sure as the Norse sagas that have information on this were written way after the actual event happened. Please check out my blog post on the history of Norse exploration in the Americas (I know a lot about it. Trust me. Plus it's a super interesting topic. http://freyathefrypan.blogspot.ca/2016/01/the-norse-exploration-of-north-america-d.html .

Thanksgiving (in Canada. Americans celebrate it in some really weird time in November or something?) 
Now we're in the territory of holidays that I really don't like. It's important to remember however that Canadian thanksgiving is related to the traditional European harvest festivals. American thanksgiving is all about the pilgrims raiding and destroying a Pequot village, which led to the governor of Bay Colony creating the Thanksgiving holiday, you can read more about it here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-breedlove/thanksgiving-pequot-massacre_b_4337722.html

Columbus day
eew. Where to begin? First of all, EVEN MANY EUROPEANS IN COLUMBUS' TIME THOUGHT COLUMBUS WAS BAD. He was a mass murderer and sold children into sex slavery. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT'S BAD. Don't be stupid and say "we can't judge historical figures by modern standards" HE WAS THROWN IN JAIL BY THE KING OF SPAIN FOR USING BARBARIC ACTS OF TORTURE. He had no accomplishments worth celebrating anyway because Leif Ericson sailed to the Americas 500 years BEFORE Columbus without committing mass genocide. I still can't believe people celebrate this. 

Welp yeah that's all for today's rant.