Bury My Heart — The Columbus Day Parade Trials
N/AOUTCOME: Not guilty of resisting arrest and obstructing a parade. A tearful jury said they had to convict on sitting in the street. Community service only, for the Indian organization of their choice. That day, at least and at last, the Indians defeated Columbus.
I was lucky to be one of the lawyers who defended scores of courageous Native Americans who decided the 100th Columbus Day Parade in Denver was 100 parades too many. Here is the opening I prepared f ... or the trial of two of them: “Colorado was first to make Columbus Day a legal holiday. We've celebrated the explorer’s achievements for a hundred years. So why do Indians, year after year, sit down in the street, and say Columbus was a bad guy? Columbus was a great guy. He sailed an ocean most people thought he’d fall off. He discovered America. So why do these Indians bang their drums, sing songs of mourning, sit in the street on a great day celebrating a great man? Let’s ask Columbus. “When you first met these people, these Indians, what was your impression?" “They would make fine servants. With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." “What promise did you make regarding these people to your King and Queen?" “As many slaves as they ask." He sold them, and he killed them. Nearly a quarter million of them.. So while for many of us, Columbus Day was a celebration, for many of us, including Teresa Lilly and Adrienne Tsikewa, the people you judge today, it was a day of mourning, one of 100 days of mourning to be endured, year after year after year. And so they came to this 100th parade, not to celebrate, but to bear witness to their pain. The pain of centuries, passed on to their young lives through the oral and written histories of their parents, grandparents, and ancestors. Pain made fresh every year, by this celebration of this great, and terrible, man. You’ll hear today that a cavalry contingent led the parade, a celebration of the armed force that decimated the Indians. Even the National Football League penalizes players who celebrate the defeat of their opponent. And the Indian people are not our opponents. They are not our enemy. Teresa Lilly and Adrienne Tsikewa are not our enemy. I don’t think the Denver police consider the Indians our enemy. In fact they made special efforts to help the Indians make their point about Columbus. The police didn’t tell the Indians to clear the street, or they would be arrested. The police cleared the streets for them, blocked off traffic so they could march, walked with them in escort. Then, at a certain point, the police said, this is as far as you go. Police, not the protestors, blocked off the street. And the protestors, some of them, sat down, under the eyes of the police, who did not tell them they could not sit down. No police officer clearly told Teresa Lilly to move or she would be arrested. No police officer clearly told Adrienne Tsikewa to move or she would be arrested. These young women didn’t go to the Columbus Day Parade. They didn’t get near the Columbus Day Parade. They went to the Indian parade organized to protest what they believe is an unlawful gathering of people to intimidate a conquered people by celebrating the man and the policies that made them slaves, raped and murdered, stole their lands, and robbed generations of Indian children of hope and heritage. These are those Indian children. Grown now, and putting their safety and freedom on the line for the next generation of Indian children. They believe their government protects them from a celebration of aggression and domination. They feel this is hate speech, and hate speech is not protected by the Constitution. The prosecution wants you to believe this is a First Amendment issue. But not all speech is protected. Your boss can’t tell you, you’ve got a great ass. You can’t hang a sign on your store, "Whites Only." You cannot yell to a crowd, "Kill the Indian." Yet this parade screams, "Kill the Indian." And so Teresa Lilly and Adrienne Tsikewa came to the Indian march, and sat down in protest of the Columbus Day Parade. At the end of this trial we’re going to ask you to stand up and say, based on the evidence you see and hear, that these two women violated no law, that these two women are not guilty.
