Emily Hayes\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\u201cI\u2019ve never quite seen such division like this,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
She reflected on her experience as the only person of color in a room. She said she asks herself if that is the right place to be, if she is safe and where the exits are.<\/p>\n
Still, Collins said, \u201cNo matter our race, color or identity, we are all connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collins\u2019 niece, Little Miss Ute Mountain Pachun Collins, said she hopes \u201ceveryone has hope in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Precious Collins and Lopez-Whiteskunk encouraged young people to continue to speak up for themselves and for one another, because \u201cthey are the future,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important to talk to our young ones about (understanding each other),\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
She also read a land acknowledgment she wrote to remind people to be stewards of the land.<\/p>\n
Lopez-Whiteskunk said she was disappointed by the noise several trucks and motorcycles made outside the Cultural Center on Saturday, as well as the loud talking beyond the wooden gate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what tribe you are, you stand and listen (when an elder is speaking),\u201d Lopez-Whiteskunk said. \u201cNever did I experience such disrespect until these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a former member of the Montezuma-Cortez School District board, Lopez-Whiteskunk said she served all people, families and children, not just tribal members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this (division) is what we leave for the next generation, I\u2019m scared,\u201d she said. \u201cSo many times we can\u2019t see beyond ourselves to something greater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez-Whiteskunk encouraged people at the event to think about whether they should celebrate Columbus Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to celebrate is to not celebrate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Montezuma County Patriots Tiffany Ghere and Sherry Simmons listen to speeches from tribal members.<\/span>Emily Hayes\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>Lopez-Whiteskunk held up her face mask, which had a red handprint to signify missing and murdered Indigenous women.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany say oppression doesn\u2019t exist, but it does,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She read aloud the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and asked elected officials to honor it.<\/p>\n
Members of the Montezuma County Patriots attended the event after they were invited by the Walk for Justice. Six entered beyond the wooden gate at the courtyard, while several others remained outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not about division,\u201d said Tiffany Ghere, a co-organizer of the Montezuma County Patriots.<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 Freedom Ride on Saturday included a flag from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Patriots burned sage over the flag at their gathering before the ride, Ghere said.<\/p>\n
Veterans standing outside the Walk for Justice gathering announced upon entering the gathering that \u201call lives matter\u201d and that they \u201cfought for all lives, not just Black lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
A member of the Miniconjou Lakota planned to at the event, but decided not to enter the Cultural Center courtyard when he saw the people surrounding the outside with American, Thin Blue Line, and Trump for President flags.<\/p>\n
Montezuma County Patriots display flags outside of the Walk for Justice and Peace event at the Cortex Cultural Center on Saturday.<\/span>Emily Hayes\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>His partner, Robin Hamm, spoke on his behalf, saying, \u201cNo Lakota in their right mind would stand encircled by white supremacists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamm described instances of the \u201congoing genocide\u201d in the U.S., including a Lakota woman who died in police custody in South Dakota in 2015. Her family said she was pregnant at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why we say Black lives matter,\u201d Hamm said.<\/p>\n
Conversation instead of confrontation<\/div>\n
Montezuma County Patriot Josh Archuleta and Walk for Justice participant Jorie McCann discussed what occurred at the event afterward.<\/p>\n
Archuleta said he didn\u2019t understand why a speaker called the Patriots white supremacists when he said he is \u201cnot racist against anybody here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because I fly this flag doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m racist,\u201d Archuleta said of his Thin Blue Line flag.<\/p>\n
Archuleta and McCann said they agreed the police force and the government needs to be \u201ccleaned up,\u201d but Archuleta said he thinks President Donald Trump is the person to do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to cause trouble,\u201d Archuleta said of his presence at the event.<\/p>\n
A Montezuma County Patriot flies the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe flag at the Freedom Ride on Saturday in Cortez.<\/span>Emily Hayes\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>ehayes@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Americans reflect on racism, need for unity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,13,28,167,29,265],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-51045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-local-news-lead","tag-newsletter","tag-politics"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87886,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51045\/revisions\/87886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51045"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=51045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}