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Editors’ attack of rally misinformed

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 28, 1997 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 29, 1997

Editors’ attack of rally misinformed

SOLIDARITY: Portrayal of educational day based on incorrect
assumptions

By Natalie Stites

and Hugo Maldonado

The Daily Bruin editorial published on Oct. 21 attacked Native
American and Raza Solidarity Day by making the same reactionary
assumptions that the event was intended to combat. For the American
Indian Student Association (AISA) and Movimiento Estudiantil
Chicana y Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), this is another example of the
misinformation that is perpetuated against Native Americans and
Raza. We hope to address the Daily Bruin’s concerns regarding Oct.
13.

The rally was a commemoration of the resistance and survival of
native people, despite the European invasion that began with
Christopher Columbus. The rally also celebrated the diversity of
indigenous cultures and recognized the common ground and solidarity
between two communities whose histories have been irrevocably
altered by colonization in the Western Hemisphere. The
characterization of this event as "antagonistic," "offensive" or
even as a "protest" is incorrect. This would have been clear to any
member of the Daily Bruin Editorial Board who attended the
event.

First and foremost, the opening paragraph of the editorial
includes the phrase "Old World" to describe Columbus’ place of
origin. The term "Old World" is a misnomer applied to Europe at the
time of contact and reflects the colonial mentality of the Daily
Bruin Editorial Board. Within the paradigm of discovery, the
reference to Europe as the "Old World" necessarily requires a
similar reference to the Western Hemisphere as the "New World."
From the indigenous perspective, the Western Hemisphere was never
new, and Europe was never old in contrast. Native cultures in the
Western Hemisphere spanned hundreds of years before Columbus came
from Europe, and to perpetuate the use of such incorrect and
antiquated terms as "Old World" is a disservice to the students on
this campus.

Additionally, Columbus did not "stumble upon a land we now call
America" but rather came into contact with an island that the
Western world now calls Hispanola or the Dominican Republic and
Haiti. AISA and MEChA have no idea who the "we" is supposed to
include, although we suspect it is not Raza or Native Americans.
The people that Columbus first came into contact with were the
Arawak and Taino tribes. We are sure they had a name for the land
they lived on – before they became extinct within five years of
their first contact with Europeans.

AISA and MEChA assert that no member of the Daily Bruin
Editorial Board attended the event. It is quite obvious to us that
characterizing the rally as an "attack on the white man in a way
that (was) more confrontational than educational" is an example of
the editorial board’s ignorance regarding Native American and Raza
Solidarity Day. We urge the Daily Bruin Editorial Board to refer to
the article written by Daily Bruin reporter Stephanie Wong,
published on Oct. 14, for information regarding the content of the
educational and cultural event. Also, we advise that the editorial
board refer to the ads that AISA and MEChA ran in the Daily Bruin
on Oct. 9 for information regarding the intent of the event.

What we did attack is the mentality that continues to celebrate
Columbus through a nationally recognized holiday, because Columbus
is not a man to celebrate but to condemn, no matter what your race.
He is not a hero. Nowhere in the program, flyers, chalking,
tombstones or advertising did AISA or MEChA attack white people. We
find it very interesting that an attack on Columbus and
colonization, focused on indigenous resistance and survival, would
be viewed by the Daily Bruin Editorial Board as an attack on white
people in general.

Moreover, if we did offend people through our event, we are
happy. If asserting the resistance and survival of native people is
offensive to some people, then obviously a few speakers and
performance groups will not do anything to open their minds. Our
intent for the event was to acknowledge many tribes and cultures
that were almost eliminated by the colonization and European
invasion that began with Christopher Columbus. Our traditions and
histories will not be forgotten. Our people continue to survive and
resist. If that is offensive to those of "European descent" and the
Daily Bruin Editorial Board, we do not apologize and we will not
take suggestions on how to improve our programs. AISA and MEChA are
disappointed, but not surprised, by the Daily Bruin Editorial
Board. It seems to be another example of how the editorial board
operates on misinformation without regard for the truth.

AISA and MEChA would also like to address the ignorance
contained in a piece written by Dan Ruppel which was published on
the same day. Ruppel displayed tremendous ignorance about Native
Americans and about American history regarding the treatment of
non-white minorities. Native American tribes are sovereign nations
according to U.S. laws; the legal dimensions fluctuate due to the
American government’s historical lack of accountability and
consistency in following its own laws regarding the status of
tribes and tribal members. Members of the tribal nations in the
United States have dual citizenship and maintain a unique trust
relationship with the U.S. government. This relationship
encompasses a large and diverse set of policies which deal
specifically with Native Americans and go far beyond the
affirmative-action policies of the last 30 years. The "national
origin" of Native Americans is always taken into consideration when
dealing with the government; natives are afforded special status
based on a variety of treaties and policies that are often
tribe-specific.

Additionally, Ruppel’s disgustingly flippant remark regarding
the repatriation of human remains ("a matter of grave concern,
literally") currently held by the UCLA Anthropology Department is
not only insulting to Native Americans today, but also to the
ancestors who continue to be "stored" in the basement of Haines
Hall. AISA and MEChA call for a formal apology from Ruppel. He not
only casually insulted Native Americans as a whole, but he insulted
the original inhabitants of the land that UCLA sits on because the
remains in Haines Hall are largely from Southern California
tribes.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was
passed in 1990 mandating that all institutions which receive
federal funding are required to return sacred funerary objects and
human remains, stolen by archaeologists and anthropologists, to
their respective tribes. UCLA has been lax in doing so, and
bureaucratic red tape continues to plague the efforts of native
peoples to have their ancestors buried with dignity.

Ruppel’s partisan, small-minded, campus political games should
not be played at the expense of all American Indians. Obviously,
his concerns regarding the current state of USAC and its "political
bias" are founded in ignorant, disrespectful, misguided and racist
rhetoric. We recommend that Ruppel take a few "ethnic studies"
courses before he attempts to speak regarding these issues, as his
ignorance is an example of how badly ethnic studies are needed at
UCLA.

For AISA and MEChA, all of the above demonstrates the need for
educational events such as Native American and Raza Solidarity Day
and for "ethnic studies" as a whole at UCLA. AISA and MEChA are
committed to combating the ignorance, misrepresentation and racism
that indigenous people on this campus must face, by co-programming
educational and cultural events, advocating on behalf of our
communities and staunchly supporting American Indian Studies and
Chicano/a studies at UCLA.

We urge the Daily Bruin to stop contributing to the ignorance
and to hold itself to a higher standard of journalistic excellence
than it has demonstrated thus far.

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