#ColumbusDay is a celebration of settler colonial violence. On this day @forgprojectny chooses to celebrate Indigenous people. Columbus and his crew kidnapped and enslaved more than a thousand people in Hispaniola; raped and terrorized the Taíno, Carib, and Lucayan; and initiated the “Age of Discovery” and the colonization of the Americas by Europe. Yet Columbus Day is still a federal holiday in the United States and his legacy is celebrated across the globe. The predominant narratives around Columbus’s life and voyages are part of a larger set of mythologies and rationalizations to lay claim to settled lands. There are ways to disrupt these narratives, however fixed. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s profound work, “War Horse in Babylon,” brings attention to the longue durée of colonial violence in this anti-war painting. The horse, wounded but standing tall, is leg deep in a pile of skulls and bones. In each corner of the painting, different figures appear to emerge from the edges of the work—a devil holding a mask, a wailing woman, an astronaut, and a symbol for poison. Together, these figures tell us about the technologies, processes, and individuals who engage in or are caught in war. Smith presents a complex composition that reframes the way we understand temporal experiences of war: For those who terrorize, war is a lucrative endeavor that is intimately bound to capitalism and power. For those who are terrorized by this violence, how do they move forward? What existence is possible in its aftermath? Smith’s critical analysis reminds us that settler colonial violence is ongoing. Image: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation), “War Horse in Babylon,” 2005. Mixed media on canvas, 60 × 100 in. Forge Project Collection. #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousPeoplesDay2022 #FuckChristopherColumbus