Posted by [EMAIL PROTECTED] : link provided by David R....thanks! GUEST OPINION Little Bighorn memorial offends some native peoples By RON FIRE CROW and RUSSELL BROOKS http://www.billingsgazette.com/opinion/991121_opi03.html Another travesty in American history toward Native people is about to occur unless we do something to change it by speaking out. We need to speak to each other to unify and create a Native consensus that will change the proposed memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. This memorial was created out of a process that does not serve Native interest. The process itself to this point has functioned under the guise of equity and fairness. However, the reality we face as Native people is the current proposal for the memorial is in no way connected to the teachings, concepts or beliefs that are central to the Native way of life. Honoring ancestors The purpose for this memorial is to honor and remember the ancestors and the reasons they fought and sacrificed their lives at this battlefield, The allied tribes gathered at that time to renew their ceremonies and to strengthen their family ties. Protecting Native land and way of life is still the center of Native interest The theme of this memorial is "Peace Through Unity" and this will be accomplished by allowing Native peoples to have the same freedom and opportunity to create a memorial that honors our own, just as other Americans have honored theirs. What should concern us all as Native people is that years from now, people who visit this site will think and believe that a "Spirit Gate" and a "Weeping Wound" are a part of our culture or are in some way connected to our traditional concepts and teachings. There is nothing within the current design that we can identify with or approve as being Native in origin. We need to affirm within ourselves the fact that a memorial is what bonds us to our people and our history. This history should be told correctly. It should also teach us about the continual struggle to maintain our way of life that is at the heart of our identity as Native people. The real tragedy of the matter is the current design will speak nothing to our children and the generations to come. It will teach them nothing of who they are as Native people or where they come from. The fact that the proposed memorial is to be reconciliatory in nature towards the present cavalry memorial is another fallacy. This belittles the whole cause of why the warriors defended and fought that day to protect family, livelihood and homeland, The Indian memorial should be an entity within and of itself. It has nothing to do with the cavalry memorial. We have this opportunity today to create a memorial that reflects a true representation of our origins along with the values and identity our ancestors Fought to preserve. We also can use this as a way of educating other people about the true nature of our being as indigenous people. The purpose of this document is not to divide anyone but to unify Native people in empowering ourselves to create our own memorial instead of having other people create one for us. By creating a new memorial design, we as Native people can define ourselves for others rather than having others define us and our ancestors. The true purpose In order to serve the true purpose and full relevancy of the Indian memorial, the memorial must be created by Native people to include Native concepts and perspectives. Through choosing Native artists and including Native funding, we can uphold our integrity and identity. This will empower us to teach through our struggle the reality of what happened there, and our hope for the future. We then will truly begin to share a genuine understanding of what this place and time means to us and what it will always mean to us. We need to look each other in the eye as Native people and be honest. The present design and concept is not our memorial, a memorial created by Native people for Native people. It is time we stand up and unite to protect our identity and independence in the same spirit of the ancestors that fought here at this place 123 years ago. Ron Fire Crow, Northern Cheyenne/Oglala Lakota, and Russell Brooks, Southern Cheyenne/Cherokee, are both of Billings. Updated: Sunday, November 21, 1999 Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
