We the undersigned, strongly OPPOSE the proposal to name the Brevard County Barrier Island after the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon.
Ponce de Leon is a documented brutal slaver and slaughterer of the Indigenous
People's of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Florida peninsula. Ponce de Leon is
studied in the Yale University Genocide Studies Program. It is totally inappropriate
and offensive to name the original ancient homeland and resting place of the indigenous Ais (Ah-EEs) Peoples after a man that was commissioned and rewarded for years of enslaving and killing the Native People of the Americas.
We instead PROPOSE that the US Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names name the Brevard County Barrier Island "Ais Island" to honor the area’s original inhabitants.
The name Ais Island will bring more respect and appreciation for the numerous Ais archaeology sites on the barrier island as well as raise awareness of Florida's First Peoples.
We say YES to “Ais Island”.