Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline.
- Resource Type
- Essay
- Authors
- Tinker, Tink; Freeland, Mark
- Source
- Wicazo Sa Review. Spring2008, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p25-50. 26p.
- Subject
- *TAINO (West Indian people)
*HISTORY
*INDIGENOUS peoples of the Americas -- First contact with Europeans
- Language
- ISSN
- 0749-6427
An essay is presented on Christopher Columbus' role in the death of an estimated half million Taino Indians in Española during his tenure as governor of the island from 1492-1500. It questions the celebration of Columbus as the man that "discovered" America in countries like Italy and the U.S. and explores contemporary historical narrative in order to reveal how Columbus' destruction of Española's indigenous population constitutes genocide.