President Rickey Armstrong, Sr. was featured in the Albany Times Union as part of a poignant and timely commentary entitled “A legacy of subjugation.”
February 4, 2024 | By Rickey Armstrong Sr. | OPINION | timesunion.com
Pictured above: Members of 4H groups from around New York State look over the murals in the War Room during a tour of the state Capitol on May 23, 2017. — PAUL BUCKOWSKI/Albany Times Union
In her recent State of the State policy book, Gov. Kathy Hochul notes that many artworks in the state Capitol depict Native Americans “in a manner that reflects harmful racial stereotypes and glorifies violence against Indigenous peoples.” Indeed, considered in its proper historical context, the Capitol is an impressive facility, as far as publicly funded monuments glorifying a hateful, anti-Native American past go.
There on the Million Dollar Staircase is the likeness of Christopher Columbus, who opened the door to westward exploration and expansion and set a precedent in forcing outside will upon Native people. To the Native people living on their own land in his so-called “New World,” Columbus brought slavery and forced labor and religion, brutality and violence, disease and death. Native people were not people in Columbus’ view at all, but pawns and obstacles to be used and removed in his quest.
Visitors to the Capitol’s War Room, located outside the governor’s office, are treated to particularly barbaric images. In elaborate murals, depictions of soldiers and various military battles in New York’s history adorn the room’s ceiling. Among them are several images of Native people depicted only as warriors. In one, Samuel de Champlain, rifle in hand, looks across at a murdered Native man. Above the image, a stark description reads, “Champlain Killing First Indian.”
Outside the Capitol, General Philip Sheridan sits atop his horse in statue form. The state’s website describes Sheridan as “one of the most celebrated heroes of the Civil War.” It makes no mention of Sheridan’s work after the war in carrying out his charge of “pacifying the Great Plains,” where he ordered and led brutal scorched-earth attacks against several Native nations, with the goal of forcing them onto reservations. One of Sheridan’s trusted lieutenants and friends was George Custer, to whom, according to a National Park Service biography, Sheridan gave orders to “kill all the warriors, capture all the women and children, destroy all camps and material goods, and kill all the ponies.”
That is the lens through which Native people are often viewed, in Albany and elsewhere, crafted by centuries’ worth of distorted narratives and overt attempts to belittle and eradicate our existence.
In her State of the State policy book, Gov. Hochul wrote that “all New Yorkers should feel welcome and respected when visiting the State Capitol.” What group or society of people would feel welcome staring at images that celebrate the killing of your ancestors and the ensuing destruction of their traditional ways of life?
So the governor’s recently announced proposal to review the artwork and depictions of Native people throughout the Capitol is appropriate, and long overdue.
Although just a start, such a review has the potential to meaningfully revisit and address these hateful depictions that often, and unfortunately, set the tone for our interactions with state officials. Proper respect and attention for Native issues cannot happen without basic respect for Native people.
Our people have been here since before New York state existed. We have helped to influence the state and the regions we have called home throughout history, and we play a major economic role today. Our contributions, our history and our culture should be respectfully recognized and celebrated, instead of celebrating attacks and the attempted elimination of Native people.
The review promises an effort by the state to reckon with its history and, quite simply, to try and do better. There is no need to delay or wait any longer. We will be closely watching this review, including its recommendations phase and the resulting outcomes. Whether it yields tangible results remains to be seen.
Rickey Armstrong Sr. is President of the Seneca Nation.
