{"id":4137,"date":"2026-01-19T19:30:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mercedesannais.com\/?page_id=4137"},"modified":"2026-04-09T17:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:52:36","slug":"columbus-through-native-eyes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mercedesannais.com\/es\/proyectos\/columbus-through-native-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbus through Native Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If we do not speak for ourselves,<\/span><\/p>\n

their stories will be the only ones carried <\/span><\/p>\n

forward, and they will call it everything <\/span><\/p>\n

but genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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COLUMBUS THROUGH <\/span><\/h1>\n

NATIVE EYES<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cColumbus through Native Eyes\u201d as a multimedia exhibit reads the diary against the grain, refusing the familiar narrative of salvation and civilizing mission. Instead, it places Columbus\u2019s own words\u2014his visions of conquest, servitude, and limitless extraction\u2014into generational view, carrying them forward through time into the tourism industry, the climate crisis, and the sargassum now massing along our coasts. History is not static. How we read it has consequences for the living.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My work hopes to join that of Indigenous scholars like Jack D. Forbes (Powhatan-Renap\u00e9 and Lenape author of <\/span>Columbus and other cannibals<\/em>), whose scholarship is a powerful remedy to the soul sickness of colonialism. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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COMING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY <\/span><\/p>\n

(OCTOBER 12, 2026)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This multimedia experience includes the following components. You can see sneak peeks of the exhibit below.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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INTERACTIVE TIMELINE<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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An interactive multimedia experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/use><\/svg>take a sneak peek<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A NATIVE BESTIARY<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Illustrations of the animals mentioned in the <\/span>Diario de a bordo<\/em>, whose lives are under constant threat by colonial expansion.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ESSAYS<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A collection of essays written during and after reading Columbus\u2019s diary.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/use><\/svg>read an essay below<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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PASSAGES<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Columbus in his own words: selected passages from the diary.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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in his own words…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“\u2026these people are very inexperienced in arms, as Your Highnesses will see from the seven whom I had taken to bring them to You, and to teach them our language and return them; although, when Your Highnesses so command, they can all be taken to Castile or kept captive on the island itself, for with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do whatever You wish.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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LOGGED 14 OCTOBER, 1492<\/span><\/p>\n

TWO DAYS AFTER “FIRST CONTACT”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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original (spanish)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“\u2026esta gente es muy simplice en armas, como ver\u00e1n Vuestras Altezas de siete que yo hice tomar para les llevar y aprender nuestra habla y volverlos, salvo que Vuestras Altezas cuando mandaren pueden los todos llevar a Castilla o tenerlos en la misma isla cautivos, porque con cincuenta hombres los tendr\u00e1n todos sujuzgados. Y los har\u00e1n hacer todo lo que quisieren.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Translation mine. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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in his own <\/span>words<\/span>…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He said that on the previous Sunday, the eleventh of November, it seemed good to him to take some people from that river to the Sovereigns so that they might learn our language in order to know what there is in the land, and so that, upon returning, they might be interpreters for the Christians and adopt our customs and things of the Faith… <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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12 NOVEMBER, 1492<\/span><\/p>\n

SUMMARY BY BARTOLOM\u00c9 DE LAS CASAS<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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original (spanish)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dijo que el domingo antes once de noviembre le hab\u00eda parecido que fuera bien tomar algunas personas de las de aquel r\u00edo para llevar a los Reyes porque apredieran [sic] nuestra lengua, para saber lo que hay en la tierra y porque volviendo sean lenguas de los cristianos y tomen nuestras costumbres y las cosas de la Fe…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Translation mine. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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from the bestiary…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CRAB IN SARGASSO<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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cangrejo en sargasso<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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First Recorded:<\/span><\/p>\n

17 September, 1492<\/span><\/p>\n

Sargasso Sea<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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from the bestiary…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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FROG<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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rana<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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First Recorded:<\/span><\/p>\n

13 December, 1492<\/span><\/p>\n

Northwestern coast of Ayiti (present day Haiti)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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SNEAK PEEK:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They Lied Then, <\/p>\n

They Lie Now<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read the first of my Columbus essays, published on the Folger Shakespeare Library’s blog <\/span>The Collation<\/em> during my 2024-2025 longterm Artistic fellowship. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It was the most read blog post of 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I DID NOT GET HERE ALONE<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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gratitudes<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My ancestors, for the immense privilege of belonging to the land of Ayiti and for guiding me back to Her when being in the world made me physically and spiritually ill. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The land of Ayiti, and all the animal and plant kin I share it with\u2014it is an honor to carry our stories. I pray to always do them justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Folger Shakespeare Library and Folger Shakespeare Institute, whose support gave me the courage to believe my work held value beyond my local community.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Genelin, Fula, Brayan, and the other fishermen, lancheros, divers, and friends of Las Galeras whose knowledge of marine ecologies and species was invaluable and greatly appreciated. I love learning from you.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My Shut Up and Write! community, for the warm encouragement of my little doodles and for the space and time to dedicate to my craft.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Vikki, for your support on this debut art project\u2014you helped me get beyond my technical limitations and encouraged me when I did not feel like a “real artist”.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Hahom.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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I publish essays and notes on my Substack about the process behind this project\u2014its materials, sources, and the work of being a knowledge and story keeper. If you\u2019d like to follow along, you can read more there.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/use><\/svg>check out my substack<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we do not speak for ourselves, their stories will be the only ones carried forward, and they will call it everything but genocide. COLUMBUS THROUGH NATIVE EYES \u201cColumbus through Native Eyes\u201d as a multimedia exhibit reads the diary against the grain, refusing the familiar narrative of salvation and civilizing mission. Instead, it places Columbus\u2019s 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