Whose truth? Rethinking the ‘discovery’ of America

By Mariahh Riddick

By Mariahh Riddick

Did Christopher Columbus discover America?  Some articles say he did, and some say a man named Leif Erikson did in the 11th century.

I am not sure who discovered America, but I do know when Columbus landed in America there were already people living here. Columbus called them “Indians” because he thought that he had landed in India. I call them Natives.

A native is a person in a specific place or associated with a place by birth. The Natives have been here, and they are still here, living among us, often unappreciated and pushed into a small corner of their world. They taught the newcomers how to grow food and live through the four seasons. My grandma said without the Natives, Columbus and his men would not have made it through the winter.

Also, I was told that the people who were already here were healthy. They had no known diseases until Columbus arrived with food, people, animals, and diseases.

Even though no one is sure who discovered America, Columbus is known in history books as the explorer who found the New World.

In school I am told to check my information, making sure I am speaking the truth, but this shows that some truths are not everyone’s truth.

Mariahh Riddick is a student at Wiley East Middle School.