UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, April 18. 1996
5A
'Protest' editorial an insult to students
As the faculty advisor to the Native American Student Association, I became involved in the situation generated by your editorial writer, Tom Moore, about an alleged protest that NASA was alleged to be staging in front of the Museum of Anthropology on April 11. When I called up your editors to protest numerous inaccuracies in the story, including racist comments about Native Americans, I was met with excuses and dissembling on the part of your editorial staff.
After pondering the response of your staff, in combination with my experience of the actual events sponsored by NASA, I would like to make a few points. First, the intention of NASA never was to stage a protest but to honor its ancestors and to inform the KU community about why we believe that honoring ancestors is important. One major component of Native American culture is behaving with honor. We believe that unless one behaves with honor, and honors and respects others, that freedom is without meaning. This was apparent to anyone who attended the KU Pow-wow sponsored by NASA on April 13. It is apparent from Moore's viewpoint and the response of your editorial staff that the Kansan believes the opposite. That is, freedom is everything, and honor and responsibility can be cast aside if it impinges in any way upon what you perceive as your freedom.
As a result, you hide behind freedom of the press and freedom of expression on the part of your editorial writers, even if the the "facts" described are incorrect or if the opinions expressed are hurtful to other members of the University community. You seem to have forgotten that freedom of the press and freedom of speech contain the implicit assumption that individuals will use this freedom in a responsible way.
In recent years journalism has become less of an honorable profession in which the public is informed and more of a competition in which points are scored off opponents, regardless of the facts. Thus to Moore, an attempt to call attention to the fact that Native American remains have been treated as "specimens," and that we feel that these remains should be returned to their
descendants for burial, is "blatant political correctness" and a criticism of a minority group that is attempting to have its culture understood. To reinforce his point, Moore apparently feels it is proper journalistic ethics to misquote the director of the KU anthropology Museum (I have spoken to Alfred Johnson on this point).
It is time that you remember that you are the editors and staff of one of the largest newspapers in the state of Kansas. With that task comes responsibility, and that responsibility involves making sure that stories and editorials you print are accurate and sensitive to the feelings of others. It has become standard for conservatives to make statements about values. Among the major values I have learned from my people are respect for the truth and respect for the feelings of others. It is time that Moore and the editorial board of the Kansan learn those same values and put them into practice.
Raymond Piorotti Assistant professor, systematics and ecology
Columnist's views called misinformed
Ge-gaw-ge-gaw-ge-gaw. Thaw-coy ta-lee. Tom Moore, you managed to offend the University of Kansas' Native-American students by calling us "igorant." I know that you are not solely responsible for this misinformed, slanderous viewpoint published in the Kansan on April 3. You are not the only editorial board member, and I know that the board decides what viewpoint it wants to support. Apparently, the slanderous viewpoint actually made its way through several people's approval before it was published. How did that piece of misinformation get through some of the brightest people on campus?
The Native American Student Association did not plan to protest in front of the Museum of Anthropology on April 11. In fact, we were going to sponsor a panel discussion with the department of anthropology to educate ourselves and members of the Lawrence community about the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act and to inquire about the Native remains in Fraser Hall. We also wanted to find out what the anthropology department planned to do with these Native remains.
Now, we are also interested in finding our if there are any Native remains in the Museum of Anthropology. We decided to have a panel discussion in conjunction with our Sixth Annual Pow-wow, which took place Saturday at the Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
You said, "It is their view that certain artifacts, namely skeletal remains, should not be on display in museums." Artifacts and skeletal remains are not the same. You need to consult the dictionary. Did you get your information about NASA from the Psychic Friends Network? I know that you didn't call any of our members, so I have to wonder if the Friends Network needs another psychic friend for the infomercials. Or maybe England's tabloids need another stupendous writer.
You, Mr. Moore, also managed to slander the entire Native-American population by calling Native Americans ignorant in your second paragraph. You also said, "NASA has chosen blatant political correctness instead of a reasoned look at things." What, exactly, are "things?" We are not focusing on political correctness or being unreasonable toward the University of Kansas. We are only seeking answers to some questions we have about Native remains on the campus.
You said, "If Native Americans wish to see more information about their culture in this society, they should not attack the very people whose job it is to teach just such information." How ludicrous! For your information, Tom, we do not have to consult anthropologists or any history books to find out about our culture. I believe you are a little bit confused about who teaches about our culture. You see, we have grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers, anuns, uncles, cousins, sisters and brothers to tell us about our heritage.
The two words that I used at the beginning of this article are from my first language, which is Kiowa. I learned the language from my great-grandfather and father. So you see, we are not attacking them or anyone who teaches us about our culture in this society. I am not surprised about your viewpoint. Perhaps you believed those ridiculous Hollywood Indian movies, or perhaps you actually believe some of the inaccuracies that appear in the history books that were written by non-Native people.
We extended invitations to the University, Haskell and Lawrence
communities to come and join us in this celebration of life. After all, this pow-wow represented the survival of our cultures. Our cultures have continued to survive in spite of all the atrocities that were committed against the Native Nations in the past. Our culture and languages still are here today, even though we Native Nations still have to face opposition from people like you. We still have our languages, stories and culture. Besides your opinion, Mr. Moore, what do you have?
Bessie James NASA president
NASA presiden
In the recent article written by Tom Moore regarding the protest and "poor judgment" of the members of the Native-American Student Association (NASA), I found many inaccuracies.
Native Americans deserve to be heard
According to the dictionary, the definition of ignorant means unaware or uninformed. Mr. Moore, I feel you are the one who is uninformed of the entire situation. I feel that you have not done your job as a reporter. You obviously failed to contact any members of NASA and listen to their side.
The members of NASA are planning a panel discussion to be held in front of Fraser Hall. We want this to be an educational discussion. We want our concerns and beliefs about the remains to be heard by the anthropology department. I don't know where you received your information, but it is incorrect.
I believe your comparison of an honored institution to an entire history is absurd! We are people and we will stand for what we believe in. We are not trying to defame the anthropology department, but we want our voices heard.
Perhaps you do not feel as passionate about your ancestors as we do about ours. We care about all Native-American ancestral remains even if we are not from the same tribe.
Granted, Native Americans do want to see more information about our culture in society. However, we also feel it can be obtained through our elders. Our elders hold a great deal of knowledge and are respected for their wisdom.
In a sense Native-American youth are anthropologists because we live in both worlds and bring knowledge
Please feel free to attend our meeting and hear why we are having a panel discussion in conjunction with the anthropology department.
Melissa Miera Lawrence senior
to each world. We know where we come from and who our ancestors are. We also know that it is not morally right to display these remains in a museum or to directly handle them.
Editorial showed lack of judgement
The labeling of the Native-American Student Association's planned protest as wrong and as demonstrating ignorance shows an almost unbelievable lack of understanding and sensitivity. This is not about whether the museum is in legal compliance in obtaining its artifacts, but whether they should have the artifacts at all. An action may be legal, but wrong.
The survivors of persons buried in those cemeteries would have been outragged if their ancestors had been placed in a museum to depict flood damage!
Mr. Moore fails to put himself in the position of the Native person, who, upon going to the museum, has to wonder if the skeletons are an ancestor. In 1993, cemeteries flooded along the Mississippi River, and caskets were disinterred and floated down the river.
Likewise, First Nations people are repulsed at the idea of persons outside of their tribes deciding that the remains of their tribespeople should be museum exhibits.
I'm sure that much can be learned from examining graves. However, I don't want MY grandparents or other family members dug up so someone can learn about Burial Customs of the Rural South, Prior to 1960.
The right of a museum to teach about the past should not take precedence over the right of families to respect and honor their dead.
To imply that there is a difference between Native-American remains and the remains of my family merely is racism.
Jocelyn S. Martin
Lawrence graduate student
Editorial insensitive to race, students say
The Mass Communications class at Haskell Indian Nations University is responding to Tom Moore's April 3 editorial on the display of skeletal remains at the Museum of Anthropology.
Our class reads the Kansan at least three times a week and we are not ignorant to what is happening at the University. After reading the editorial, it is evident that it is biased and written with little knowledge of Native culture and values.
The editorial implies that we are ignorant of our own ways and that it is your responsibility to teach us those ways, when in actuality, only our elders can do that. The general population can learn from our elders rather than viewing a display of sacred remains and artifacts.
Recently, students from our class spoke of Native-American stereotypes with a KU journalism class.
This provided a positive dialogue between KU and HINU students. We believe if there is a dialogue at the Museum of Anthropology with Native Americans, this issue could be resolved.
It is obvious Mr. Moore has little or no knowledge of Native people which coincides with his poor judgment!
The mass communications class of Haskell Indian Nations
University
Hannes Combest, Instructor
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