Dear AGR:
Si-yo (hello),
I’m glad to see that the National Museum of the American Indian
finally reached a belated but honorable opening. As Sen. Daniel K. Inouye
(D-HI) who sponsored the Senate bill authorizing the museum stated at
the opening ceremony: “This monument to the first Americans is
long overdue.”
I am also pleased to see that as part of the agreement the Smithsonian
finally agreed to repatriate 2,500 “pieces” of its collection
— primarily human remains as well as sacred funereal and religious
objects — to Indian Nations.
The American Indian struggles for justice are far from over! I hope
and pray that the Museum will be more forthright in interpreting these
realities. Some agitation by Indian activists might help.
I fully agree with the statement issued by AIM’s Grand Governing
Council on Sept. 21. While congratulating the founders of the museum
they also chastised them for failing to display “the sordid and
tragic history of America’s holocaust against the native nations
and people’s of the Americas.”
State and local AIM chapters continue to do excellent work on behalf
of Indigenous people. AIM Asheville (Brenda Jo McManama) has done an
excellent job of honorably defending important American Indian Rights
www.geocities.com/aimasheville/index.html.
There is no need to continue to whitewash America’s history or
ignore historic (and continuing) injustices!
Sgi (thanks),
David Thundershield Queen, mixed-blood Eastern Cherokee
Asheville, NC
