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Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years
Why rethink Christopher Columbus? Because the Columbus myth is a foundation of children's beliefs about society. Columbus is often a child's first lesson about encounters between different cultures and races. The murky legend of a brave adventurer tells children whose version of history to accept, and whose to ignore. It says nothing about the brutality of the European invasion of North America.
We need to listen to a wider range of voices. We need to hear from those whose lands and rights were taken away by those who "discovered" them. Their stories, too often suppressed, tell of 500 years of courageous struggle, and the lasting wisdom of native peoples. Understanding what really happened to them in 1492 is key to understanding why people suffer the same injustices today.
More than 80 essays, poems, interviews, historical vignettes, and lesson plans reevaluate the myth of Columbus and issues of indigenous rights. Rethinking Columbus is packed with useful teaching ideas for kindergarten through college.
We need to listen to a wider range of voices. We need to hear from those whose lands and rights were taken away by those who "discovered" them. Their stories, too often suppressed, tell of 500 years of courageous struggle, and the lasting wisdom of native peoples. Understanding what really happened to them in 1492 is key to understanding why people suffer the same injustices today.
More than 80 essays, poems, interviews, historical vignettes, and lesson plans reevaluate the myth of Columbus and issues of indigenous rights. Rethinking Columbus is packed with useful teaching ideas for kindergarten through college.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
17 people are currently reading
1026 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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October 1, 2015This book was banned in Arizona Schools. A very good reason to read it.
February 12, 2008
this is an EXCELLENT teaching resource to help facilitate discussions about indigenous peoples/history/culture/current events in the classroom...i'm using it for my undergrad course at Columbia right now.....i will post a longer review later!!!
October 3, 2019
WOW. I don't think I've read such a thought-provoking book in a long time. "Columbus is dead but his legacy is not..his exploitative spirit lives on" in the form of private profit and destroying our environment. I especially appreciated the stereotype checklist and techniques for helping chidren critique Columbus books. (Eg: How many times did Columbus talk? How many times did the Native people talk? How many times did Native people have names? Are Native tribes depicted as all the same? Does the book describe how Columbus treated the Native people?) The way the students at Jefferson High School in Portland, OR commemorated the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas by invading another classroom and stealing bubblegum and lipstick, was priceless. The lesson and debriefing must have been invaluable. It reminds me of when my high school history teacher made us play the stock market and experience the crash of 1929 with our grades. A hard F to take. What can teacher's do to make the plight of Native Americans real to students? How about reenacting Emma Yazzie's story by pulling out the red ribbon stakes of energy companies surveying land? How about singing the 1492 Song? Nancy Schimmel's Page We've all been taught lies in our traditional schooling with the help of inaccurate textbooks. How can we make sure those lies are not fed to our children? Essays, interviews, handouts, songs and classroom tips will equip a teacher interested in teaching the truth about Columbus and Native Americans.
March 11, 2021
I used this book for my son’s homeschooling curriculum and I would use it again if I had the chance. This book accurately flipped everything he had previously learned in public school upside down, and he thanked me for finding it. Years later, he still references this book.
July 30, 2015
Very interesting for being a curriculum resource!
September 26, 2019
Five stars for an alternative to what we're taught about the "discovery" of America in schools, AND it was published in 1995!
October 22, 2011
social studies prep for student teaching
December 2, 2013
Think Columbus is a hero, proud of your american lineage and of your country? Read this, then we'll talk about it again. Unfortunately Columbus is still celebrated and honored...
December 2, 2014
Useful for class instruction
January 15, 2015
I reserved this book online without seeing the entire title, so I wasn't expecting a curriculum resource. Interesting, but possibly full of "pendulum swing" errors.
October 16, 2017
An important perspective that most of us will never be able to teach in our lifetimes...
October 2, 2020
Definitely a lot of quality considerations in this book.
Points to ponder:
"Being a parent is never uncomplicated. One is compelled, through one's children, to re-experience vicariously the unfolding complexities of growing up, of coping with the uncomprehended expectations of an apparently intransigent and unaffectable world, of carving a niche of personality and point of view amidst the abundance of pressures and demands which seem to explode from all directions. Most people spend a good part of their lives in search of the ephemeral ideal often termed 'identity,' but never is the quest more arduous and more precarious--and more crucial--than in the so-called 'formative years.'
"One would like, of course, to spare offspring some of the pains and frustrations necessarily involved in maturation and self-realization, without depriving them of the fulfillments, discoveries, and excitements which are also part of the process. In many arenas, little or no parental control is--or should be--possible. Learning, particularly about self, is a struggle, but with security, support and love it has extraordinary and marvelously unique possibilities. As parents, our lot is often to watch and worry and cheer and commiserate, curbing throughout our impulse to intervene. The world of children interacting with children is in large part off-limits."
-Michael Dorris
Points to ponder:
"Being a parent is never uncomplicated. One is compelled, through one's children, to re-experience vicariously the unfolding complexities of growing up, of coping with the uncomprehended expectations of an apparently intransigent and unaffectable world, of carving a niche of personality and point of view amidst the abundance of pressures and demands which seem to explode from all directions. Most people spend a good part of their lives in search of the ephemeral ideal often termed 'identity,' but never is the quest more arduous and more precarious--and more crucial--than in the so-called 'formative years.'
"One would like, of course, to spare offspring some of the pains and frustrations necessarily involved in maturation and self-realization, without depriving them of the fulfillments, discoveries, and excitements which are also part of the process. In many arenas, little or no parental control is--or should be--possible. Learning, particularly about self, is a struggle, but with security, support and love it has extraordinary and marvelously unique possibilities. As parents, our lot is often to watch and worry and cheer and commiserate, curbing throughout our impulse to intervene. The world of children interacting with children is in large part off-limits."
-Michael Dorris
September 15, 2022
What are the authors of this revisionist history thinking? I'd just like to know if they would prefer to have the Taino culture with its emphasis on zemis, or the spirit inhabitation of material objects, in charge in the Caribbean?
It's bad enough in that area with its voodoo and Santeria culture, and other non-rational and non-scientific outlook on reality, none of which presume that natual events are caused by other natural events.
I believe this book was written for the sole purpose of discrediting Europeans and their outstanding effect on the cultures and governments of the world. In all, Europeans have been a net positive for the world. A BIG net positive.
The worse you can say about Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors of the time is that the monarchs of Spain, and later the Holy Roman Empire, were attempting the unification of Spain following the Reconquista and the expelling (or worse) of Muslims and Jews in the peninsula. And this attitude probably spilled somewhat into the new world.
At least the elimination of primitive and backwards, even savage, belief systems was begun by the Spaniards.
It's bad enough in that area with its voodoo and Santeria culture, and other non-rational and non-scientific outlook on reality, none of which presume that natual events are caused by other natural events.
I believe this book was written for the sole purpose of discrediting Europeans and their outstanding effect on the cultures and governments of the world. In all, Europeans have been a net positive for the world. A BIG net positive.
The worse you can say about Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors of the time is that the monarchs of Spain, and later the Holy Roman Empire, were attempting the unification of Spain following the Reconquista and the expelling (or worse) of Muslims and Jews in the peninsula. And this attitude probably spilled somewhat into the new world.
At least the elimination of primitive and backwards, even savage, belief systems was begun by the Spaniards.
April 21, 2021
An eye-opening collection of essays, activities, poetry, primary resources, and interviews looking at the conquest of Turtle island from the perspective of the people who lived and cared for the land for thousands of years before white people showed up on the scene.
Based on the idea of helping children critically think about the cultural myths they learn at school, at home, and from society - I found how much I never even questions, or what values were reinforced by the "national holidays" of celebrating these men that stole, rapped, and pillaged. I'm not sure where I learned the myths of Columbus and the "expansion" of the united states, but I know it never occurred to me what it was reinforcing in my psyche about the first peoples and about white history.
Packed with resources to take your study further, I recommend this as a great starting place for decolonizing your mind.
Based on the idea of helping children critically think about the cultural myths they learn at school, at home, and from society - I found how much I never even questions, or what values were reinforced by the "national holidays" of celebrating these men that stole, rapped, and pillaged. I'm not sure where I learned the myths of Columbus and the "expansion" of the united states, but I know it never occurred to me what it was reinforcing in my psyche about the first peoples and about white history.
Packed with resources to take your study further, I recommend this as a great starting place for decolonizing your mind.
March 4, 2021
A series of articles by various authors concerning how to present Columbus and Native American history to elementary students (geared for grade 5). Includes some additional topics like Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. A practical elementary sidekick for _Lies My Teacher Told Me_.
December 27, 2025
I didn’t realize this was more of a resource for teachers than for a layperson or parent but found it helpful nonetheless, and would be an excellent teaching tool for children, intermixing facts, stories and poetry together.
August 3, 2021
A *must* for all educators.
December 1, 2023
I put this book on my to-read list after seeing it suggested by many people. This was a nonfiction collection of essays, articles, teacher/parent resources, poems, and folk tales. The book was a collection written by various authors to combat the legacy of Colombus. "Columbus is dead but his legacy is not..his exploitative spirit lives on" I wish that I had read this years ago and had access to the resources contained within it. My only complaint is that many of the pieces had similar information and I feel like the editing could have been done better.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews