Authentic voices necessary for Santa Fe to move forward
Iapplaud State Historian Robert Martinez’s My View (“History is too complex for a monument,” June 23). In the midst of pulling down statues and obelisks, he calls instead for honest talk about racism, colonialism and conquest. However, past attempts to do so have failed miserably, in my view. I agree with Martinez: Now is the time to renew the conversation. But this time, the voices of the important stakeholders who have been marginalized in the past must finally be heard.
In 1973, a group of Native leaders silently protested the depiction of conquest at Fiesta de Santa Fe. Ever since, the Native community has sought redress over Santa Fe’s portrayal of its past, but change has been slow to come. For example, Elena Ortiz, of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, has complained about Fiesta and related matters to various political leaders for decades, and her writing on this and related topics has often appeared in The
New Mexican. However, despite her obvious authority and commitment, she has been routinely excluded from groups officially tasked to examine cultural cartography, truth and reconciliation.
Moreover, roundtable symposiums at the New Mexico History Museum have received scant mention in the press, despite providing valuable examinations of the community’s schisms. For example, at one 2017 symposium, the grandfather of Lightning Boy — former Pojoaque Gov. George Rivera’s son, a hoop dancer who died tragically at 8 years old — brought the audience to tears as he spoke of the mixed heritage of his family. His was an authentic voice as close to the problem as is humanly possible. His audience should have been much wider. Tellingly, leaders from local civic groups declined to participate in that symposium, despite being invited.
Santa Fe cannot fix these problems if other authentic voices — such as those of Jennifer Marley (San Ildefonso), Jessica Montoya (former Santa Fe Fiesta
princesa), Lee Moquino (Santa Clara), Gomeo Bobelu (Zuni Pueblo) and Bob Haozous (Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache) — continue to be excluded from the conversation. Not until Marley’s arrest at the 2018 Entrada protests did the city finally agree to some reform by instituting a “replacement event” for the Entrada. Even so, only men received credit for the resolution despite the fact that women such as Marley and Montoya clearly spearheaded the movement to abolish the Entrada. The exclusion has been sexist as well as racist.
This is not an issue about symbols made of stone or marble — which will finally crumble. This is about human memory and civilization, which is far more durable and valuable. If marginalized voices continue to be excluded from the conversation, a full and satisfactory resolution of these vexing, centuries-old problems can only be delayed.
This is not an issue about symbols made of stone or marble — which will finally crumble. This is about human memory and civilization, which is far more durable and valuable.