The Heirs of Columbus by Gerald R. Vizenor
"The Heirs of Columbus" by Gerald R. Vizenor is a novel that explores the lives of nine tribal descendants of Christopher Columbus, emphasizing their tribal identities and storytelling heritage. The narrative is framed around the assertion that the heirs are not victims of Columbus, but rather active participants in redefining their history and culture. Central to the story is Stone Columbus, a late-night talk show host, and Felipa Flowers, who seeks to reclaim cultural artifacts. The heirs believe that their identity is rooted in storytelling, expressing that "we are created in stories" and that language serves as a means of discovery.
The novel posits a controversial claim about Columbus' lineage, suggesting he has Mayan ancestry and that he did not discover the New World but instead returned to it. As the heirs undertake a mission to recover sacred items and assert their rights, they face challenges that culminate in a court case and the tragic death of Felipa. Despite these obstacles, the heirs establish a sovereign nation at Point Assinika, a space where they emphasize healing, humor, and the importance of storytelling. The novel reflects on themes of cultural repatriation, identity, and resilience, using trickster logic to challenge historical narratives and support the reinvention of tribal existence in contemporary society.
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Subject Terms
The Heirs of Columbus by Gerald R. Vizenor
First published: 1991
The Work
Published shortly before the quincentennial of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage, Vizenor’s The Heirs of Columbus proclaims: “I am not a victim of Columbus!” The novel tells of the nine tribal descendants of Christopher Columbus, including Stone Columbus, a late-night talk radio personality, and Felipa Flowers, a liberator of cultural artifacts. For the heirs, tribal identity rests in tribal stories, and they are consummate storytellers. “We are created in stories,” the heirs say, and “language is our trick of discovery.” Their trickster storytelling rewrites and renews the history of white and tribal peoples. Stone tells a story, central to the novel, asserting Columbus’ Mayan, not Italian, ancestry. The Mayans brought their civilization to the Old World savages long ago, Stone argues. Columbus escaped Europe’s “culture of death” and brought his “tribal genes” back to his homeland in the New World. Columbus did not discover the New World; he returned to it.
For some readers, The Heirs of Columbus might recall African American novelist Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo (1972). Both works have a fragmented style and are concerned with the theft and repatriation of tribal property. Felipa Flowers undertakes a mission to recapture sacred medicine pouches and the remains of her ancestor Christopher Columbus from the Brotherhood of American Explorers. After Felipa’s successful raid, the heirs are taken to court to tell their story. They win their court case, but Felipa is later kidnapped and murdered in London when she tries to recapture the remains of Pocahontas.
After Felipa’s death, the heirs create a sovereign nation at Point Assinika, “the wild estate of tribal memories and the genes of survivance in the New World.” Theirs is a natural nation, where tricksters heal with their stories and where humor rules. Stone plans “to make the world tribal, a universal identity” dedicated to healing, not stealing, tribal cultures. To this end, the heirs gather genetic material from their tribal ancestors. They devise genetic therapies that use these healing genes to combat the destructive war herbs, which have the power to erase people from memory and history. Soon, Point Assinika becomes a place to heal abandoned and abused children with the humor of their ancestors.
Stories and genes in The Heirs of Columbus operate according to trickster logic, which subverts the “terminal creeds” of cultural domination and signals the reinvention of the world.
Bibliography
Coltelli, Laura, ed. Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
Laga, Barry E. “Gerald Vizenor and His Heirs of Columbus: A Postmodern Quest for More Discourse.” American Indian Quarterly 18, no. 1 (Winter, 1994): 71-86.
McCaffery, Larry, and Tom Marshall. “Head Water: An Interview with Gerald Vizenor.” Chicago Review 39, nos. 3-4 (Summer-Fall, 1993): 50-54.
Vizenor, Gerald, ed. Narrative Chance: Postmodern Discourses on Native American Indian Literatures. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.