California state and tribal officials gathered Monday to break ground on a statue of the late William Franklin Sr., a well-known member of the Miwok tribe who worked to preserve the tribe culture, including its traditional dances. The statue will replace one of St. Junipero Serra, a Catholic priest who built missions from San Diego to San Francisco with the aim of converting native peoples to Christianity.
In the summer of 2020, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota, protesters tore down the Serra statue at the California Capitol, along with statues in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Last year, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to replace the statue with a monument to California’s Native American tribes.
“For us, this monument is more than just correcting a moment in history,” said Regina Cuellar, chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. “It is my hope that this acknowledgement to California’s tribes will highlight the importance and further secure the inclusion of native voices in all matters of the state.”
The statue is one of several changes to how the state recognizes its history. Since the summer of 2020, state officials have also removed a statue of Christopher Columbus from the state Capitol and passed a law to rename every place that uses the word “squaw.”
Full story at Crux.
what a bunch of bs
Just what, exactly, have the Miwok or any other California Indian contributed to California culture?
That night, Sra Regina got in her car, listened to a favorite CD, went shopping and got food for dinner, drove to her residence (with lighting, electricity, and heating), got the news on the TV while she cooked up dinner in her microwave, sat down and read the newspaper and a chapter of her favorite book, and relaxed in a comfortable easy chair. In a bit, she got up and sent emails to all her relatives, phoned Mom, and checked her bank account online. She next decided to turn on the dishwasher, and then put some laundry in her washer, and another load in the drier. Later that night, she took a shower, checked her complexion in a mirror, took her medications, and then turned in for the night, turning off all overhead lights, and setting outside security surveillance. After turning on her electric blanket, and her alarm clock, she retired on her comfortable bed. Sighing, she said drowsily, “I’m so glad to have finally and fully returned to my ancestral native American culture”….
not sure if the Miwok tribe took a vote on this, to represent all Miwok descendents. they said they wanted inclusion of native voices….
California turning pagan. Just more evidence…
How does this help unify us?
If you’re unsure, it doesn’t.
Why not add a statue rather than remove Saint Junipero and Christopher Columbus?
And, that question is not rhetorical.
As a leader of the Miwok stated, “It is my hope that this acknowledgement to California’s tribes will highlight the importance and further secure the inclusion of native voices in all matters of the state.” She is call for inclusion, not exclusion of Spaniards, Italians and their descendents.
I doubt William Franklin Sr. was a socialist who thought there are an unlimited number of genders. Those are the woke Democrats who offer only lip service to inclusion.
There was an Indian Chief, and he had three squaws, and kept them in three teepees. When he would come home late from hunting, he would not know which teepee contained which squaw, being dark and all. He went hunting one day, and killed a hippopotamus, a bear, and a buffalo. He put a hide from each animal into a different teepee, so that when he came home late, he could feel inside the teepee, and he would know which squaw was inside.
Well after about a year, all three squaws had children. The squaw on the bear hide had a baby boy, the squaw on the buffalo hide had a baby girl. But the squaw on the hippopotamus had a girl and a boy. This means that the squaw on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides.
Riddle, that was incredible.
I wish I had said that.
Love this riddle, a “parallel” of the Pythagorean theorem: the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.
Nice to bring some geometric truth into the nonsense of the Miwok statue replacing St. Junipeo Serra.
Reality Optional.
They shouldn’t be allowed to make a statue of a Native American using Western methods of metallurgy. That’s cultural appropriation, you see. Let them make their statue by hand-carving a tree trunk. Why is it only cultural appropriation if a white kid wants to dress up as an Indian or a squaw for Halloween but not when Indians want to build casinos featuring Western gambling and technology? All this politically correct stuff is nonsense.
Good point. A wood-carved statue would be more appropriate. Maybe they’re committing cultural appropriation of the industrial revolution.
I don’t know if the nations that later were joined into the Miwok had skills in metals but some peoples indigenous to the Americas did.
Jesuits removed St Serra from SCU…
Someday this will be torn down too, as “offensive” to someone. I’m surprised that Native Americans aren’t planning on knocking it over already., After all, it was probably made wrong, somehow.
An aside on cultural appropriation:
Anyone who doesn’t like Mexican food
is totally Un-American
You better speak Spanish in Southern California too.
Miwok
Is that with a long O ???
Me woke, you woke, he/she/it wokes, they woke.
There’s a mountain in southeast San Diego County near Jacumba that has the name “Squaw tit” on the topo maps. I wonder what its new name will be?
“Squaw Breast”.
Mammary Mountain
If that is true, the name should be changed as most women would consider that disrespectful. Although I think there should be room for both St. Junipero Serra and a member of the Miwok tribe, at least the statue above is fairly decently clothed and more respectful than some.
It was renamed Bald Eagle Peak in Aug. 2021.
Actually, that was the one in Alberta, Canada. This one is the high point of Table Mountain in southwest San Diego County.
Mt MLK.