American Indian statue has new home at school
“The Chief” is back, but not in San Antonio.
Eight months after its removal from its longtime home outside the Red Mccombs Superior Hyundai dealership on the city’s Northwest Side, the American Indian statue has resurfaced about 50 miles south of the city at Jourdanton High School.
The school posted photos of the statue Wednesday on Facebook, along with a remark in the post’s comments section that the statue had been donated.
“Jourdanton ISD will take great care of him,” the post stated, “we can’t wait to see him under the Friday night lights next season!”
Jourdanton Independent School District announced the acquisition Tuesday on Facebook.
“Jourdanton ISD has recently acquired the historic Big Chief from Red Mccombs,” the post stated. “As a school district, we understand the importance of honoring history and preserving the legacy of our community. Big Chief holds a special place in the hearts of many Jourdanton Indians, and we are proud to now own this iconic landmark. We acknowledge the significance of the Big Chief and its cultural importance, and we are committed to ensuring that it remains an integral part of our community for generations to come. As Jourdanton Indians, we take pride in our history and heritage, and we look forward to how this will now be a part of our story.”
The San Antonio Expressnews contacted both Jourdanton ISD and Mccombs Enterprises for comment but did not get an immediate response.
The so-called “Chief” was a San Antonio fixture for more than 50 years.
The fiberglass statue with the feathered headdress originally stood over the Superior Pontiac dealership on Broadway near downtown in the 1960s. In 1977, it moved with the dealership to its longtime perch overlooking Loop 410 near Callaghan Road.
The statue was removed in July as part of a major remodel of the Superior Hyundai dealership. At the time, Peter Brodnitz, Mccombs Enterprises vice president of marketing, told the Express-news the statue did not meet Hyundai’s guidelines for the look and feel of its dealerships.
The 26-foot-tall statue took it share of potshots over the years — both from vandals who peppered it with arrows and bullets, and from critics who condemned it as a stereotypical depiction of an American Indian, specifically the 18th-century Odawa chief who inspired the name of the former Pontiac car company.
Ramón Vásquez, longtime executive director of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions, called the continued use of such imagery “an injustice” that continues to minimize the American Indians of Texas.
“When I found out that the statue was being moved to the school, that was just like another slap in the face to American Indians of Texas,” Vásquez said. “I don’t believe we should continue to use language or symbolism or cartoon statues of American Indians in our public school systems. And I think that’s what does the real injustice.”