Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved
Opinion by Catherine Davids
Copyright © 1999 Davids
The 2nd Annual Native American Music Awards is scheduled to take place Saturday, November 6th at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque.
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 by email. NAMMYS@aol.com
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 by Rodriguez & Gonzales
Rodriguez & Gonzales,
Excerpt from March 26th column:
"Bridges Needed to Unite Cultures"
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 Calif., 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.
Rodriguez & Gonzales,
Excerpt from June 11th column:
"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 vandalized, 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.
Comment about this travesty of a monument to genocide:
info@puertorico-herald.org
info@puertorico2000.com
prusa@puertoricousa.com
senado@SENADO.gvmt.pr.us (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:
NAMMYS@aol.com * XColumn@aol.com * PatiGonzaJ@aol.comMiigwech and Gracias,
Catherine Davids
Flint, Michigan