Though Gallup is recognized for its rich Native American history, it’s often forgotten that Native peoples occupied the area before anyone else.
That’s part of the message Navajo civic activist Mervyn Tilden wants to promote in light of the newly instituted Gallup Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which the Gallup City Council formalized via resolution at its Sept. 27 regular meeting.
“This is a great day – a great day for everyone,” Tilden, a Church Rock native, said.
Asked what word he’d give to the Oct. 10 demonstration in front of the Gallup Cultural Center at 201 E. Hwy. 66, Tilden replied, “Life.”
Close to 20 people joined him at the demonstration off and on throughout the day. Marchers burned cedar to signify life, death, birth, among other meanings sacred to Native American tradition.
Tilden advocates the importance of Natives helping other Natives reconnect to their ancestral ties. He said he was just a child when it occurred to him to embark on a personal journey to discover his Native American roots.
Christopher Columbus, Tilden mused, was not the true discoverer of the place now called the United States of America.
Years of traveling and researching permanently changed his perspective, he said, and others at the demonstration seemed to feel the same way.
“I think this is a great occasion,” Loren Anthony, who is from the Chuska Mountains, said. “I wish there were more people here, but the fact that this is now the day that it is means something.”
Anthony carried a bullhorn and shouted expressions like: “This is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Angela Chavez, who owns a restaurant inside the Cultural Center, said the demonstrators were not much of a distraction. She said she saw her usual lunch crowd, and was surprised more people didn’t attend the affair.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
