And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: Catherine Davids <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tuesday, June 15, 1999
Subject: Re: NAMMYS in Albuquerque
Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint
In 1998 the first Native American Music Awards took place. It
was long overdue considering that the first music heard on these
lands was the music of the American Indian people who sat at the
drum and played flutes. They sang songs for many occasions but
always first to remember the Creator who made everything possible.
The people who put the NAMMYS together have created a
tremendous venue to honor American Indian musicians. This year
the NAMMYS are adding Latino/a categories and this is a wonderful
acknowledgement of the indigenous roots of our Latino/a cousins.
The mayor of Albuquerque, Jim Baca, has proclaimed November
6th as Native American Music Awards Day in that city. The 2nd
Annual Native American Music Awards is scheduled to take place
Saturday, November 6th at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque.
I respectfully ask each and everyone to urge the NAMMYS to
boycott Albuquerque, New Mexico due to that city's disdain and
disrespect of the American Indian and Mexican American people.
I urge the NAMMYS to tell the mayor of Albuquerque that the
organization is boycotting due to the circumstances which will be
outlined in the following column by Roberto Rodriguez & Patrisia
Gonzales. I am also including an excerpt of their June 11, 1999
column entitled "Of Chihuahuas, Indian Slayers, and War." Perhaps
the NAMMYS could be held at one of the reservations that have
beautiful conference facilities, etc. Perhaps the NAMMYS could
be held at the American Indian Museum in New York City. There are
plenty of American Indian sites that could be used without having to
give any support to places like Rapid City or Albuquerque. There are
also approximately 35 tribal colleges and some of them have excellent
facilities.
American Indian people have never stopped playing the drum or
singing in the traditional way. Go to a Pow-Wow and there are
always traders with hundreds of cassettes and cd's of American
Indian musicians - performing all styles from classical (R. Carlos
Nakai) to Litefoot (rap) to Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians
(rez' rock) to the swing and cool jazz of legendary Keely Smith.
When I heard that the 2nd Annual NAMMYS were going to be
held in Albuquerque I wanted to cry because I know what is going
on in Albuquerque so I decided to share what I know. I also know
how dedicated some American Indian people are in addressing these
racist bigoted stereotypical dehumanizng images.
Charlene Teters, Vernon Bellecourt, Mike Haney, Tim Giago,
Floyd Red Crow Westernman and others have been physically
assaulted, have been jailed, and have gone to trial for their protests.
It is not right that a small group of people are trying to get justice
for everyone. We should be supporting them whenever possible
through all kinds of actions: letter writing, phone calls, economic
boycotts, etc. American Indian and Mexican people get pulled over
in the southwestern part of the United States - automatically guilty
of "driving while brown."
I hear American Indian musicians sing songs about these injustices.
American Indian people write heartbreaking poems about these
injustices. Essays are written by brilliant authors and writers.
American Indian people get up at Pow-Wow's and talk about
these injustices. Where ever American Indian people gather the
conversations include these injustices. And yet - most of us are
content to let a small group of people take the "heat" for the
justice we all seek. They need our support and compassion.
It is not enough to sing or talk or write about these issues. Is
that as far as each individual is willing to go? I want to stand for
more than just my words. I want to have the courage, like Roberto
Rodriguez and Patrisia Gonzales, to take an award back to a
hypocritical entity that cannot live up to its own words. I don't want
to go quietly into the night while others do the so-called dirty work.
Words are good but words should be followed with action otherwise
we'd all be sitting around endlessly debating everything. Don't sit
on the fence or you might fall off. Don't sit in the middle of the road
or you might get run over.
What is happening in Albuquerque is common all over the United
States but we have the opportunity to begin something new. Critics
might say well why don't you complain about the "four dead white
guys on a mountain in South Dakota" or the statue of Custer in
Monroe, Michigan? Well...everything starts someplace and that
someplace, at this moment because of this issue, is Albuquerque.
An economic boycott of Albuquerque would have a huge impact
and would send a strong message to other communities looking to
take our money and culture to make themselves look diverse or to
coverup their insensitive thoughtless and ignorant actions towards
the American Indian and Mexican people. It doesn't matter to me
who wanted the NAMMYS in Albuquerque - that is not the point.
Perhaps none of the musicans, singers, etc., involved are aware
of the situation in Albuquerque. Now they are!!!
My facts are straight. I am not trying to hurt the NAMMYS. I am
not trying to hurt all the talented American Indian artists. I am trying
to create an awareness of a particular situation. This is not about
the commonality of music styles of different tribes. This is not about
hurting the American Indian community in Albuquerque who are
already (and have been hurt for 500 plus years) hurt by the Juan
de Onate statue matter. I am taking a stand against the City of
Albuquerque's hypocritical government. This is me - taking a stand
and taking an action to send a message.
To hold the NAMMYS in Albuquerque sends a clear message,
one of acquiesence.
In my humble opinion I believe that the Mayor of Albuquerque,
his city council, and others are using the NAMMYS to buy themselves
some positive press and publicity due to the dehumanizing relationships
they have forged with American Indian and Mexican communities.
This column was written by Roberto Rodriguez and Patrisia Gonzales
on March 26, 1999. Rodriguez & Gonzales are syndicated newspaper
columnists who pen "Column of the Americas" which is read by
thousands of people each week. What is not told in the column is
that several years ago Rodriguez and Gonzales were honored by
the City of Albuquerque for their human rights activities and writings...
they were presented with the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Human
Rights Award. When the controversy about the statue of Juan de
Onate began, and the city supported erecting a statue to this mass
murderer, Rodriguez and Gonzales returned their human rights award.
A boycott would have great impact on this city and their arrogant
attitude. A boycott would give support to Rodriguez & Gonzales and
the human rights groups they work with in Albuquerque. We cannot
and should not let these good people down and we should not support
the city of Albuquerque. If anybody out there has a suggestion of a
better place for the NAMMYS then please let them know.
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Rodriguez & Gonzales are working with a group of American Indians,
Mexicans, and other right-minded good-hearted people who are
trying to get this outrageous monument to genocide stopped. I
should also mention that sacred sites belonging to the indigenous
people are also being threatened with extinction by the City of
Albuquerque who hypocritically give out a human rights award
bearing the name of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Because of the length of the column I have condensed the space
by combining little paragraphs and sentences into big paragraphs.
________________________________________________
Here are the March 26th & June 11th columns:
Bridges Needed to Unite Cultures
by Rodriguez & Gonzales
All over the world there are statues to individuals who are deemed to
represent the faces of monumental history. Often, distilled from that
history is the vast unwritten pain from the spoils of such epochs. Such
is the case in Albuquerque where supporters of Juan de Onate, a
16th century Spanish soldier, want his name written alongside other
European "explorers." His supporters would like to see the city erect
a grand statue honoring him as the founder and first governor of the
state. Opponents, who hold him responsible for genocide, land theft,
and slavery, would prefer to create a memorial to honor the meeting of
the various cultures in 1598. This Onate controversy is creating deep
wounds among the cultures, as the media are erroneously projecting it
as a battle pitting Hispanics vs Native people. It is actually a battle
between some Hispanics who insist on honoring Onate and Onate
only, vs. seemingly everyone else.
Onate was banishsed from New Mexico by the Spanish authorities
for his cruelty toward the indigenous population, which included the
massacre at Acoma Pueblo and the virtual obliteration of the Jumanos
Pueblo. He was not personally responsible for every massacre in the
region. However, it was his forays that opened up the Southwest to
such atrocities. This eventually led to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt -- a
coordinated rebellion that drove out Spaniards from the region for
12 years. It was so complete that everything Spanish was destroyed,
including missions, churches, government buildings and particularly
the mines that exploited Indian slave labor.
This impassioned debate is not about the past, but rather about how
we honor memory and what we remember. Even more poignantly, this
is about how neighbors view and treat each other and how they view
themselves. Many of the proponents, who claim ascenancy from Spain,
say there's an anti-Hispanic bias in the opposition to the statue.
Many of the opponents claim out-and-out racism against Native people.
Missing from this is what Mexicans or Mexican-Americans, who form
a large part of New Mexico's population, think about this controversy.
Some of the Hispanics pushing for the Onate statue want nothing to
do with Mexicans and also take deep offense if they are confused with
indigenous Mexicans. Incidentally, the Mexican nation has never erected
a statue to Hernan Cortes, Mexico's "conquistador." Despite this, the
media generally lump Mexicans in the same category as Hispanics,
especially in this debate. "The proponents of the statue do not speak
for all Hispanics and generally have a disdain for Indians, Mexicans or
mestizos," said Arturo Sandoval, who heads the committee to
commemorate 400 years of Hispanic presence in the state. He favors
an inclusive memorial: "I'm Hispanic and I don't support the statue."
This disdain is not often broached in "polite company" though it oten
manifests itself in the immigration and bilingual education debates and
in cultural celebrations in which Mexican-indigenous culture is suppressed.
We wonder what motivates one group of people to wantonly disregrd the
view -- not simply of their neighbors -- but neighbors who were here
long before Onate left his profitable slave-mining operations in
Zacatecas?
Native people and Chicanos have stepped forward almost unanimously
in opposition to the statue. Yet the city council is still trying to
erect the statue, just as it is still trying to ramrod a road through an
ancient sacred site within the city limits. Apparently, the need to
honor a conqueror overrides the need to get along as neighbors.
Why? An inferiority complex? Maybe, though Acoma educator Darva
Chino said that perhaps it's more of a superiority complex. "They're of
the philosophy that to be Spanish is to be better than Mexican-Indians."
Perhhaps this superiority complex helps explain why they rejected
placing an Indian statue in Tiguex Park back in 1983 - the same part
where the Onate statue is destined to be placed. Sadly, it's reminisscent
of another controversy a few years ago in San Jose California, in which
the building of a statue to Quetzalcoatl (an Aztec spiritual force) was
protested vociferously by those who, after 500 years, continued to
believe that indigenous spirituality is heathen. If bigotry is not
involved and a reminder of Spanish accomplishments is actually
needed, then we suggest building a library or musesum. Seems more
like a case where a bridge between communities needs to be built
rather than another bronze statue of a dead guy on a horse.
______________________________________________
Excerpt from June 11th column: by Rodriguez & Gonzales
"Of Chihuahuas, Indian Slayers, and War"
Regarding the Indian slayer re-erection, it's most disturbing.
Milford, Pa., put up a statue in the 1800s to Tom Quick, reputed to
have killed 99 Indians. Elaine Raper of the Native American Historical
Truth Association recently said that Quick "begged for one more on his
deathbed to make it an even 100." He's credited as being the first to
conduct germ warfare against native people (through the use of blankets
infested with smallpox). In 1997, the statue was dalized, and city
officals are contemplating re-erecting it. "To have a monument
re-erected that condones racism and violence is an atrocity," Raper
said. City officials apparently believe that statues, like images, are
harmless. Charlene Teters, renowned for her struggles against racist
logos in sports, commented to us about the relationship between
images and reality: "When culture and identification are held hostage
by the media, it can create hopelessness," she said. Among native
people, this can contribute to situation such as what has recently
occurred in South Dakota, where there were 40 attempted suicides
by youths, she said. The exploitation of racist images "tell us that
there must be something wrong with us," she added.
*From Catherine Davids:
A 33 story, 600 ton bronze state of Christopher Columbus built by
a Russian sculptor is being erected in the city of Catano which lies
across San Juan Bay from Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan.
The statue will be the centerpiece of a newly designed tourist industry -
something that Catano lacks. The statue is taller than the Statue of
Liberty. It will cost $30 million to erect and the citizens of Puerto
Rico are paying for it through a bond issue. 13-20% of Puerto Ricans
are unemployed and 75% live below the poverty level. In Catano the
majority of people live without running water and toilets in their homes,
and in a true example of history repeating itself a great many of
Catano's citizens will have to give up their homes and be relocated
to make room for the statue. Columbus lives. But - by god there will
be this statue - a monument to genocide. This statue was originally
a gift to the United States but most cities turned it down because of
the huge cost of erecting it and because of the effective protests of
American Indians who decried the statue because it glorifies someone
representing 500 years of genocide.
Comments about this travesty of a monument to genocide:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (This goes directly to the
Puerto Rican Senate whose President is Charlie Rodriguez.)
****************************************************
Please support Rodriguez & Gonzales and the American Indian and
Mexican people of New Mexico and everywhere in getting rid of these
dehumanizing statues and sports mascots, etc. If we cannot appeal
to their sense of decency then let us appeal to their greed: their profit
and pocketbooks. Economic boycott seems a real option here if we all
work together. I again urge the NAMMYS to please support Rodriguez
& Gonzales by finding a new site for the NAMMYS.
Contact:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Miigwech and Gracias,
Catherine Davids
Flint, Michigan
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
