{"id":53215,"date":"2020-06-18T11:27:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T17:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-than-1400-people-call-for-chief-to-be-taken-down\/"},"modified":"2020-06-18T17:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T17:27:25","slug":"more-than-1400-people-call-for-chief-to-be-taken-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/more-than-1400-people-call-for-chief-to-be-taken-down\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 1,400 people call for \u2018Chief\u2019 to be taken down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The \u201cChief\u201d across the street from Toh-Atin Gallery on west Ninth Street has been a part of Durango\u2019s history since the 1950s. But some are calling for its removal, saying it is a \u201cracist caricature.\u201d An online petition calling for its removal had 1,200 signatures as of Wednesday.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A petition to take down the \u201cChief\u201d \u2013 a large caricature of a Native American man in downtown Durango \u2013 had received more than 2,300 signatures as of 11:30 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling on the city of Durango, Mayor Dean Brookie and Toh-Atin Gallery to do the right thing by removing Toh-Atin Gallery\u2019s racist caricature sign, known as \u2018The Chief,\u2019\u201d the petition, created by a group called Durango Peace and Justice, reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn times like these, there is no excuse for the continued presence of dehumanizing stereotypes (nor was there ever). We demand the sign\u2019s removal immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durango Peace and Justice declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

\"This
This picture of the Chief Diner on Main Avenue in Durango is from a 1960s postcard. The diner closed in the early 1980s, and the waving Chief sign was salvaged and is now located outside the Toh-Atin Gallery in the west 100 block of Ninth Street.<\/span>Courtesy of La Plata County Historical Society, www.animasmuseum.org<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Chief, located on west Ninth Street across from Toh-Atin Gallery, which owns the sign, has been a part of Durango\u2019s history since the 1950s, when it stood outside the old Chief Diner at Main Avenue and 21st Street.<\/p>\n

After the Chief Diner closed in the early 1980s, the Chief sign was eventually moved to the location where it now stands.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the sign has generated controversy from some people who say the caricature is degrading and offensive, reinforcing stereotypes about indigenous people and serving as a symbol of systemic racism.<\/p>\n

The petition on Change.org is being signed by people from all over the country, with a significant number of people from the Four Corners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 2020. Racism and anything that spreads the stereotypes of Native Americans is not acceptable,\u201d Crystal Bahazhome, who lives in Farmington, wrote on the petition. \u201cIt never was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose Nofchissey, a Shiprock, New Mexico, resident, wrote that she \u201cfeels insulted when I see stereotypes of us indigenous people that are degrading\u201d and called for Toh-Atin Gallery to take the sign down.<\/p>\n

\"The
The &#x201c;Chief&#x201d; has generated controversy from some people who say the caricature reinforces stereotypes about indigenous people and serves as a symbol of systemic racism.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Brookie said Wednesday the sign is on private property, and therefore the city has no authority or say whether the sign comes down, but he recognizes it has \u201cnot been without controversy from its inception.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can appreciate the history of it, but maybe the message is inappropriate, with a different meaning in today\u2019s society than when it was erected,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a timely and important conversation to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonia Clark, co-owner of Toh-Atin Gallery, said she was aware of the petition and welcomes conversation about what the sign means to different people.<\/p>\n

Clark says only a small minority oppose the sign, and many Native American artists she works with, as well as customers who come into the gallery, appreciate and like the waving Chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe in no way ever want to offend anyone,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThere are 175,000 Navajos, and we hear negative things from only five or six.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark said Toh-Atin Gallery works regularly with Native American artists and tries to promote the tribe\u2019s culture, lifestyle and art. She said there are much more important issues to focus on, such as helping the Navajo Nation obtain solar energy for dependable electricity, than criticizing a sign in Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a sign of a guy with war paint and a tomahawk or a figure that massacred Native Americans like Kit Carson,\u201d she said. \u201cHe looks like a lot of the people we work with. We\u2019re not making fun of anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the days since the appearance of the petition calling for the Chief\u2019s removal, a counter-petition, also on Change.org, has gathered signatures in support of the sign.<\/p>\n

Created by Durango resident Keartsy Wegher, the petition received more than 1,500 signatures in one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cDurango has embraced its Native heritage for a long time and this statue does not represent a racist way of living,\u201d Wegher wrote on the petition. \u201cWe are a diverse town with Spanish, Mexican and Native American influences \u2026 we need to APPRECIATE this, not ERASE IT.\u201d<\/p>\n

Re-evaluating symbolsAcross the country, a movement to take down what some consider symbols of historical racism and oppression has been re-energized after the death of George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week in Albuquerque, public pressure resulted in city officials taking down the statue of Juan de O\u00f1ate, a Spanish conquistador. And in Denver, there\u2019s a call to change the name of the Stapleton neighborhood because of the former mayor\u2019s ties to the Ku Klux Klan.<\/p>\n

In Durango, there have been a handful of similar incidents over the years.<\/p>\n

In 1994, at the urging of Native Americans at Fort Lewis College, which make up a about 40% of the student body, the school changed its mascot from the Raiders, a name seen as highlighting a perceived violent nature in indigenous tribes, to the Skyhawks.<\/p>\n

More recently, panels at FLC depicting the college\u2019s history were criticized last fall for glossing over dark parts of the school\u2019s past<\/a> when it served as a boarding school for Native American students from 1891 to 1910.<\/p>\n

The panels, however, sparked a larger conversation about the systemic and consistent misportrayal of Native American history that frequently leaves out how Western settlers took over ancestral lands, attempts at genocide and, when all else failed, efforts to erase culture.<\/p>\n

As a result, a working group was formed to re-evaluate the ways FLC tells its history, which included holding public listening sessions, committee discussions, stakeholder input and conversations with tribes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA key question was how understanding and recognition of that past inform our present and future,\u201d said Lauren Savage, FLC spokeswoman.<\/p>\n

Dean Jesse Peters, who led the project, said the current national attention on institutional violence and racism perpetuated against people of color in the U.S. is a \u201csobering reminder of how important this work has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to realize the potential of Fort Lewis College as an inclusive educational space where all members of the community grow and learn together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The &#x201c;Chief&#x201d; across the street from Toh-Atin Gallery on west Ninth Street in Durango. Antonia Clark, co-owner of Toh-Atin Gallery, says only a small minority oppose the sign.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

When asked whether Toh-Atin Gallery would ever take the Chief down, Clark said it would take \u201creally serious conversations, and some really compelling proof and argument\u201d from those opposed to the sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last 20 years, maybe 20 people have approached us or written a letter or posted to Facebook about the sign,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just has not been a big issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, Clark insists, she is always willing to talk and engage about the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always makes more sense to talk to people,\u201d she said. \u201cYou never learn anything if you\u2019re talking and not listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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