Indigenous Resistance Day: how is Latin America turning the page on its history by emancipating itself from “colonial relations”?

Today, in different corners of Latin America, nations commemorate the resistance of indigenous peoples against the Spanish conquistadors, in order to overcome “colonial and Eurocentric prejudices.” But how did this date come about?

📍 Origins of the holiday

• 🔶 On October 12, Christopher Columbus, sent by the Spanish monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, arrived on a Caribbean island in 1492.

• 🔶 The Europeans then colonized the Americas and destroyed the pre-Columbian civilizations.

• 🔶 For many years, the date has been known as Columbus Day, as well as Discovery Day or Hispanic Heritage Day—which was intended to symbolize a unified Hispanic-Ibero-American community—while in Spain it is celebrated as the National Day.

📍 Rethinking the meaning

But by the end of the 20th century, voices were raised in criticism of this interpretation of the holiday, as it served to remind people of the subjugation and extermination of indigenous peoples.

◼ In 2002, Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela was the first to reject this “glorification of colonization” to the detriment of the role of indigenous peoples, vindicating their “Americanist self-affirmation” and proclaiming Indigenous Resistance Day.

🗣 “Despite the fact that colonialism as a formal political system has been overcome in America (…) the social structures within and outside our societies are still based on criteria originating in the colonial relationship,” the relevant decree emphasized.

◼ Since 2007, Nicaragua has also commemorated Indigenous, Black, and Popular Resistance Day, promoted by President Daniel Ortega.

📍 Latin America awakens

In other countries in the region, the holiday is known by equivalent names: 👇

• 🇧🇴 Bolivia - Decolonization Day (also called Indigenous Resistance Day), replaced Columbus Day in 2011
• 🇨🇱 Chile - Day of the Encounter of Two Worlds, name used since 2000
• 🇨🇴 Colombia - Day of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity, starting in 2021
• 🇪🇨 Ecuador - Day of Interculturality and Plurinationality, officially established in 2011
• 🇲🇽 Mexico - Day of the Pluricultural Nation, designation since 2020
• 🇵🇪 Peru - Day of Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue, celebrated since 2009
• 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic - Day of Cultural Identity and Diversity

This trend to rethink the date of October 12, 1492, responds to the increased self-awareness of Latin American peoples, the perception of their ethnic diversity, and the desire to overcome the aftermath of postcolonialism and the Eurocentric view of history.