The way we choose to name the stories, events, and experiences that shape our lives is not arbitrary (or should not be). Identity is constructed based on how we think of ourselves and, therefore, how we describe ourselves. The same happens with people. How have we shaped our narratives in relation to the world? What place do we decide to occupy as Latin Americans? How we are perceived depends greatly on how and to what extent we embrace our history and on where we position ourselves within it.
On the eve of October 12th — originally named the Day of the Race — we wish to reflect on how, in recent years, the ways we refer to this milestone in our Latin American history have been questioned and transformed.
It is all a matter of perspective.
“Discovery, encounter, concealment, covering up…With these contradictory, distant, and divergent categories — proposed at different times and by dissident schools of thought — the event of October 12, 1492, was named; the date when Cristóbal Colón and his men set foot on what was arbitrarily called America, to conquer and colonize it with its new others — our Indians”, says Argentine historian and researcher Ana María Presta, in an article published by the Ravignani Institute.
That is how controversial and changeable the official history of people can be, depending on the voices that dictate it. But why is it important to focus on this? The words of dominant discourse can either do justice to the reality of events or not, and with their content, shape the perspective through which a community’s identity is formed. Such is what the Indigenous struggle has claimed, to this day, in defense of their territories and the history of their ancestors, who endured and resisted during the so-called “Encounter of Two Worlds,” a long and painful period of wars, misunderstandings, plunder, domination, and death. “This act marked the beginning of an era of oppression and dispossession against our Indigenous peoples,” declares COICA (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin) in one of its statements about October 12.
The words we choose to recount the events of our history thus become a means of justice for Latin American memory, and a gesture—however small it may seem—of recognition and reparation to those Indigenous people whose bodies bear the marks of oppression and resistance.
October 12 throughout Latin America
At the beginning of this century, most Latin American countries chose to re-signify the date and, consequently, its message. Although in Honduras and Guatemala, for example, the date continues to be referred to as “Día de la Raza” and “Día de la Hispanidad,” as in Spain.
In the more recent commemorations, expressions such as cultural diversity, multiculturalism, respect, Indigenous resistance, dialogue, and decolonization were adopted.
This is how October 12 is referred to in Latin America:
-Argentina: Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity (this year, Javier Milei's government decided to rename it “Día de la Raza”)
Chile: Day of the Encounter of Two Worlds
Bolivia: Decolonization Day
Uruguay: Cultural Diversity Day
Peru Day of Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue
Ecuador: Day of Interculturalism and Plurinationality
Colombia: Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Day
Venezuela: Indigenous Resistance Day
Panama: Day of Cultures
Nicaragua: Day of Indigenous, Black, and Popular Resistance
Mexico: Plurinational Nation Day
Language gives us the opportunity to reinterpret messages from our past in the present. But the task of revising the way we read history is ours. It is always time to question and reflect. It is always time to reclaim and recover, for there will always be forgotten struggles and a side of the story that strives to make it invisible.
https://coicamazonia.org/12-de-octubre-dia-de-la-resistencia
https://ravignani.institutos.filo.uba.ar/evento/el-12-de-octubre-en-la-memoria-colectiva
https://es.statista.com/grafico/25927/las-distintas-caras-del-12-de-octubre
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