COVER
COVER
Grand
Opening of the Smithsonian
National Museum of the American Indian
BIOGRAPHY
I
Have a Story To Tell
BOOKS
New Editions From Carr Collection
COMMUNITY
Ask a Cop
CULTURE
Canada's Gift to the National
Museum of the American Indian
Defenders
of our Sacred Mother
HUMOUR
Bee
in the Bonnet: Enough to Drive an Injun Crazy!
ENVIRONMENT
Joint
Stewardship Project for Luna Reached on Vancouver Island
HISTORY
Stoney
Point History Reveals Burial Site in Provincial Park
POLITICS
Aboriginal
Leaders Meet with Ministers on Health Care
A note from the White House
Greetings and acknowledgments of the special day were also sent from those
who could not attend the celebration. Although the current President of
the United States of America, George W. Bush could not be in attendance,
Tom Cole, Senator of Okalahoma, addressed the crowd with a statement from
the White House.
"America's tribal communities continue to honor the legacy of their ancestors and their contributions have helped shape the American culture and character," stated Bush. The President also made mention of the informative aspect of such an important structure as he stated, "this museum will help educate people of all backgrounds about Native peoples, and honor their history, artistry, languages and traditions."
In stating that the museum's collection of Indigenous materials is of the "finest and most comprehensive in the world," Bush stressed that individuals must look beyond the National Museum of the American Indian's exhibits and architecture and see the structure for what it truly is: "a powerful reminder of the spirit, pride and vitality of our Native peoples."
Following the U.S. Presidential address, special recognition was given to his Excellency, Peruvian President Dr Alejandro Toledo. Accompanied by his wife, her Excellency Dr. Eliane Karp de Toledo, and members of the Peruvian diplomatic core, Dr.Toledo honored the crowd with his presence.
With pride and articulation, Dr.Toledo addressed the masses: "The museum will not only be a center to conduct exhibitions and all the cultural activities carried out by the Native people out of continent," his Excellency exclaimed, but, "Because of its unique kind of construction…and its location of the National Mall, this museum is also a profound symbol of re-conservation longtime awaited by those who landed on the shore of this continent and their ancestors who already have lived here."
"Ladies and gentleman," addressed Dr. Toledo, "through all the years, I have been stressing that Indigenization is crucial to the understanding of the Americas and that it is intrinsically related to democracy, to human rights and thus to the sustainable development of people."
The current condition of America's social, political and economic issues was addressed by the President of Peru: "We are at a stage in history where it is impossible to achieve stability, security and consolidation of democracy if we do not strongly combat the structural problem of poverty endured by millions of people, and especially by the many, many Indigenous people of our continent.
"Indigenous people have their own capital, genuine, born from the roots of our past and the wisdom of our people." It is within such cultural diversity, accumulated knowledge, and uniqueness of character, that Dr. Toledo stressed is not only the "greatest aspect of our people," but they are the elements of which must be acknowledged when examining self identity and the "complex phenomenon of globalization."
"There has come a time to put a human face to globalization and recognize the need for a mutual respect for our cultural diversity," Dr. Toledo concluded.
The past is not forgotten
The
final and perhaps most emotional speech of the afternoon was delivered
by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne). Adorned in a traditional
feathered headdress, Senator Nighthorse Campbell approached the main stage
podium and delivered what would be the most emotional commentary of the
afternoon.
In honoring Indigenous people's determination and will to survive centuries of systemic racism, cultural assimilation and near-obliteration, Nighthorse Campbell began his poignant address to a silenced crowd.
"Be it not Tuberculosis or chicken pox or AIDS or even the common cold - how much we can learn from them," admired Nighthorse Campbell. "It [the National Museum of the American Indian] is a monument to the millions of Native people who died of sickness, slavery, starvation and war, until they were reduced from a conservative estimate of 50 million people in North and central America in 1500, to just over two hundred thousand souls in what is now the continental United States in 1900."
Senator Nighthorse Campbell's words resonated throughout the National Mall and into the heavens as he continued his speech - a speech that spoke of the historic tyranny implemented upon Indigenous people in the dawn of colonization. Through illuminating the harsh reality of cultural apartite, Nighthorse Campbell made it known that: "Only 400 years after the old world collided with their world, the Native people of this land became America's first endangered species."
Honoring our Indigenous ancestors who have endured a long and arduous fight for their culture to be accepted and basic human freedoms acknowledged, Senator Nighthorse Campbell's speech alluded to the historic abuse inflicted on First Nations people. Speaking of the heinous treatment of Native Indians by colonial settlers and Eurocentric governance, Nighthorse Campbell blatantly and with irony, made mention that America, a country founded on religious freedoms, once forbade Indigenous peoples to honor their spiritual customs and beliefs.
In regard to the inequality established at the dawn of colonization, Senator Nighthorse Campbell noted the way in which the Indigenous people of America have carried out military duties in every war since the Revolutionary war - and yet "did not have the right to vote because they were not considered citizens on their land."
Lastly Nighthorse Campbell turned his attention to those Indigenous people who had been taken from their families in the name of racism. In dedication of all the survivors whose souls and families had become broken and dysfunctional due to the harshly enforcement assimilation; the Senator announced that the museum is a monument to those ancestors who as children, were placed in boarding schools, 'schools', stated Nighthorse Campbell, "that sometimes had the adage: kill an Indian to save a child."
Senator Nighthorse Campbell's powerful words gave mention to the perseverance of Indigenous people: "Those (ancestors) who endured, though shorn of their hair and stripped of their dignity, were never shorn of their spiritualism or stripped of their pride."
While acknowledging that the museum is a testament to the many gifts Indigenous peoples have contributed to humanity, Nighthorse Campbell asserted that, "Native Americans are much more than just the sum of their gifts. They are more than squash and pumpkins and tomatoes and corn and beans and peanuts and potatoes, and all the medicines derived from plants that began as Indian lore and are now used to save lives around the world."
Through further mention of the egalitarian customs of Native people,
Nighthorse Campbell declared that, "It was a unique system of self
governance never before tried in the monarchy of Europe and Asia-and it
is called democracy." The Senator concluded his speech by mentioning
that such self-governance has been, and continues to be, adopted by the
non- Indigenous leaders of the 'new world'; a democratic governance. He
coined from President Abraham Lincoln as being "of the people, by
the people and for the people."
Click here to continue reading