On June 26, 1909, wealthy textile merchant, Rodman
Wanamaker, sent a letter to President WilliamH. Taft proposing to erect a
monument to a dying race, “the North American Indian”.
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| Rodman Wanamaker and Indian Chiefs at Ft. Wadsworth 1913 |
Wanamaker enlisted the help of notable personalities such as
Joseph H. Choate, Dr. Joseph Kossuth Dixon and J.P. Morgan to persuade congress
to place the monument at Fort Wadsworth (as stated in the official program for
the 1913 groundbreaking) “…upon the highest hillcrest in the harbor, as a
witness to the passing race to all the nations of the world as they come to our
shores...
On December 8, 1911, Congress adopted an act which read: “Be
it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, that there be erected, without expense to the
‘United States Government’ by Mr. Wanamaker of New York and others, on a United
States reservation, a suitable memorial to the memory of the North American
Indian.” It was signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the
Senate pro tempore.
On April 27, 1912, the Federal Commission of Fine Arts
approved a design that included a sixty foot bronze Indian figure with his left
hand containing a bow and arrow hanging at full length, while the right hand
was uplifted palm facing forward with two fingers extended to the sky
signifying the Indians universal sign for peace. The statue stood on top of a seventy foot
high pedestal. The pedestal stood on top of the thirty five foot tall museum
located at the upper most rampart of Fort Wadsworth. Thus rising over 300 feet
from the water. This would have been higher than the Statue of Liberty.
On February 22nd 1913 President Taft, 32 Chiefs from many
tribes and other dignitaries broke ground at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island,
New York and laid down a brass plaque to mark the spot upon which the monument
would be erected.
Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. Dixon then set out on an expedition to
visit various Indian nations. Their goal was to record through photographs and
film, North American Indians in order to memorialize their way of life. They
carried with them the flag that was flown during the groundbreaking ceremony in
Fort Wadsworth and a document titled “Declaration of Allegiance”. Leaders of
the various nations were asked to sign the declaration and salute the flag as a
sign of peace and mutual respect between the United States government and the
Indian Nations.
In December of 2013, the flag that was hoisted in all of the
nations was returned to Fort Wadsworth and flown once again.
In the months following, America’s attention shifted from
North American Indian nations to enemy nations overseas. Daniel Chester French,
the designer of the monument, departed to work on the Panama Canal. Rodman
Wanamaker and members of the National American Indian Memorial Association diverted
money to support the war. A member of the Commission of Fine Arts called the
monument, “…an ungainly Indian on the roof of a Greek Temple,” eroding the
public’s passion for the project. The monument was never built.
One hundred years later – in May of 2012, Red Storm Drum
& Dance Troupe and NYS Senator Andrew J. Lanza embarked on a mission to
resurrect interest in the monument, however their efforts were thwarted when
the National Parks Service refused to acknowledge the 1911 Act of Congress that
provided the land upon which the monument would rest.
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| Red Storm Drum & Dance Troupe |
Red Storm Drum & Dance Troupe will not relent in their
mission to see the monument built.
Staten Island artist, Gregory Perillo has designed a new, less costly
and smaller monument to be built at Fort Wadsworth overlooking the New York
Harbor.
Red Storm Drum & Dance Troupe has now partnered with
Native American Indian musician, Jeff Harrell and the Bayview Community
Council, Inc. dba Staten Island Downtown Alliance, to raise the funds needed to
build the monument. The first step will be the initiation of a law suit to
force the National Park Service to turn over the land that was dedicated for
the monument in 1913.
To make a donation to the NAIM please click here. Every dollar counts.
