S.F. may remove statue of Indian
A sculpture of an American Indian man sitting beneath a Spanish missionary and a vaquero might be chopped from the Pioneer Monument in San Francisco’s Civic Center, after the city’s Arts Commission voted unanimously to review the statue and consider removing it.
Opponents of “Early Days” — which juts out of the eastern side of the 800-ton Pioneer Monument between the Main Library and the Asian Art Museum — packed a meeting of the Arts Commission on Monday to criticize the statue, calling it San Francisco’s version of a Confederate memorial.
“Monuments are supposed to commemorate victory, but it’s time to recognize that acts of genocide do not make a country victorious,” said Barbara Mumby, an arts commission staff member who took a personal day off to argue for the statue’s removal. She was among dozens who spoke, many of them descendants of the American Indians who were subjugated by Spanish missionaries.
Some fought back tears and one woman sobbed at the lectern, comparing the sculpture to “someone coming into your home, killing your family and then putting up a
monument to commemorate it.”
San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck, who is part Cherokee, described “Early Days” as “the cake topper for a wedding between racialized violence and inaccurate history.”
The commission does not have the final say over the fate of the sculpture, however. It will now be reviewed by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, which can authorize its removal. But Monday’s vote added significant momentum to a campaign that now has support from Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim.
If the Historic Preservation Commission agrees, then “Early Days” would be extracted from the larger installation of granite and bronze figures depicting the settlement of California. Built in 1894, the elaborate Pioneer Monument is topped by a goddess holding a spear in her right hand and a shield in her left, with a grizzly bear standing beside her.
The commission also voted unanimously to put a sign in front of “Early Days” during the review process, informing anyone who walks by about the controversy.
Although the majority of people who spoke Monday pressed for the statue’s removal, two speakers defended the artwork, saying it represented a critical piece of California’s history.
James Haas, who sits on the City Hall Preservation Advisory Commission, a three-member body that exists solely to maintain the City Hall building and promote its history, suggested that city officials build a box over the controversial statue, instead of spending an estimated $200,000 to remove it.
“(The statue is) the cake topper for a wedding between racialized violence and inaccurate history.” San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck