Today is observed as Columbus Day, but it’s important to recognize that before Europeans crossed the Atlantic, the Western Hemisphere had been inhabited for centuries by civilizations that built villages, farms, roads and canals. Among the native inhabitants were the Haudenosuanee, who welcome visitors to the New York State Fair’s Iroquois Village every summer. Known for their longhouses and canoes, the people of the Six Nations lived under a sophisticated system of laws and government that inspired the US constitution. The arrival of Columbus is no cause for celebration to Native Americans.
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