Changing historical narratives - 11th October 2021

A statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, on the main avenue in Mexico City, will be replaced by one of an indigenous woman.

Claudia Sheinbaum, mayor of Mexico City, confirmed that the bronze image of Columbus would be relocated to a park.

Demonstrators across the US and Latin America overturned images of the famous adventurer, whose voyages were financed by the 15th century Spanish crown. He’s seen by many as a symbol of oppression and colonialism, as his arrival in the Americas opened the door to the Spanish conquest.

Mayor Sheinbaum made the announcement ahead of the International Day of Indigenous Women ceremony. She said that relocating the statue was not an attempt to "erase history" but to deliver "social justice". She stated that Columbus' statue will not be “hidden away" but that the civilisations that existed in Mexico before the Spanish conquest should receive recognition.

Sculptor Pedro Reyes has been assigned the task of sculpting the statue of an Olmec woman. The Olmec culture thrived in the Gulf of Mexico between 1200 to 400 BCE.

Columbus' statue was removed from its plinth in 2020, just before the famous Columbus Day holiday on 12th October. In fact, some states in the US rebranded the holiday to Indigenous Peoples' Day. They wanted to memorialise the contributions of Native Americans.

And in Latin America, Day of the Race, Day of Hispanicity, Day of the Americas and the Day of Indigenous Resistance were some of the new names.