Columbus celebrations spark protests

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Native communities across North and South America marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the West with a series of protests and demonstrations.

Organized under the theme of 500 Years of Resistance, protesters, disrupted anniversary festivals, especially in the United States where Columbus is celebrated annually as a tribute to Italian-Americans.

"We're not going to celebrate Columbus. We are going to be there to mourn,"

said Ken Irwin, executive director of the Ohio Indian Movement, who staged a memorial service in Columbus, the largest American city named for the Genonan explorer.

Organizers in the Columbus Day Parade in Denver, Co., cancelled their parade after activists threatened to disrupt the procession. One organizer said the situation seemed "dangerous."

Groups in several Canadian cities also organized ceremonies to put a new spin

on the traditional mythology surrounding Columbus's discovery of North America.

In Winnipeg, about 400 people attended a rally at the provincial legislature and marched through the downtown area. The day included an inter-church service and an evening concert.

Brian Wright-McLeod, a Chippewa-Sioux artist who took part in a rally outside the Ontario legislature, said Columbus celebrations honored "the longest on-going holocaust humanity has ever experienced."

Protesters in Edmonton scuffled briefly with members of the Knights of Columbus during the service club's traditional Oct. 12 parade.

Police blocked protesters from entering a church at the end of the parade route where the Knights of Columbus hold an annual service. The skirmish ended quietly when a parade organizer told protesters they could enter the church if they promised not to disrupt the service.

The protesters decided that entering the church on those conditions would symbolically support the celebration of the anniversary.

"For us as indigenous people, using the name of Columbus is like using the name of Hitler. It's like celebrating Hitler Day," said Ramon Antipan, who blew on a conch shell between chants of "No more Columbus Day. No more genocide."

About 120 people gathered in an Edmonton park earlier in the day to watch a pageant featuring a mythic battle between an eagle and a condor - symbolizing indigenous people - against the explorer.

Columbus activities took a violent turn in Ecuador, where a Native group dynamited the Pan-American Highway which spans the South American continent.

In Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu - the Native woman who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize - joined hundreds of people in an all-night vigil.