Native Americans & Christopher Columbus

Indubitably, the acts made upon Indians for the sake of progress were atrocious. Brutal and cruel murders of millions of Indian peoples resound to this day. Their populations may never recover from such an incredible loss; the past can be ignored but never erased. However, we as Americans, celebrate Christopher Columbus day with joy. We think only of ‘The Founding of America’ and not by the means of which our country was constructed. To Indians everywhere this holiday is simply a remembrance of the murder, torture, rape, and enslavement of their people that last hundreds of years. So why do we celebrate such an insidious act? Because we justify the imposition of others for the sake of human progress. However is this tactic progressive at all?
When Zinn writes "If there are necessary sacrifices to be made for human progress, is it not essential to hold to the principle that those to be sacrificed must make the decision themselves?” he is simply asking if there is something to be lost for the gain of progress, shouldn’t the ones who are to lose make the decision to be the “necessary sacrifice”. Indeed, I believe that if the imposed party were given the choice to either be sacrificed or not, for even the sake of progress, they would not be willing. Its basic human nature, self preservation, and so the majority of people, I feel would not be logically able to make such a choice. Therefore, yes, I do believe that until people as a whole are able to make peaceful resolution and keep their word, that necessary sacrifices must be made but with only with the heaviest of heart.
No one can refute that the destruction of the Native Americans and their homes was a terrible time in history that should not be repeated. I feel the genocide of these Indians was necessary to get where we are as humans today. If the Spaniards and other conquerors had led peaceful resolutions the United States would neither function, nor geographically look the same as it does today. We cannot say what a peaceful relationship between foreigners and the Native Americans could have brought, for we did not experience it and must only rely on what we know. What we know is, though terrible, the deaths of those people have brought us to the modern face of America and all the technological advances that have been achieved with it. This should not be celebrated with holidays such as Christopher Columbus Day, for it was indeed only the beginning of mass extinction for the American Indian and should only be respected for the many souls that lost their life for the sake of “human progress”.
From my perspective the Columbian exchange should be viewed in a negative light. This occurrence in history has most often had a positive connotation attached to it; however, the murder of millions should never be looked upon as a positive. Crops, animals, diseases and culture were traded among the Indians and foreigners. Many of which made the America’s desirable to be cultivated and populated. It is for these reasons that historians typically categorize this event as a positive instead of the damaging situation it was.
History is as said, history. We cannot alter it to suite our present or future; however we can learn from it. Humans as a whole will continue on making mistakes, minor and major, tense and bloody but the Columbian Exchange has taught Americans that they cannot repeat his occurrence in any shape form or fashion. Peaceful resolution should be met if possible, if not reached, then may with the most apprehension and fear, should war be approached. Native American numbers may never recover but we will no longer make them suffer.