The Racist History of Mount Rushmore

Much older than the Alps and the Himalayas are the Six Grandfathers - formed when subterranean pressure raised the earth's cru­st into a huge elliptical dome sixty-five million years ago. We know them today by the name of Mount Rushmore, a 'shrine of democracy', a symbol of American greatness and presidential patriotism. For many American's it still remains a grand tribute to democracy.

From 1927 until his death in 1941, Gutzon Borglum tore down hundreds of thousands of tons of stone to carve the presidential memorial out of Six Grandfathers. Borglum picked his four presidents based on their role in Manifest Destiny - widely held American imperialist cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. Washington got things started, Jefferson helped the Louisiana Purchase, Roosevelt the Panama Canal and Lincoln preserved the Union.

However, for Native American's Mount Rushmore is a symbol of desecration, defacement of the sacred site with connections to the Ku Klux Klan. The insult of Rushmore is at least four-fold:

1. It was built on land the government grabbed from Native Americans.

2. The Six Grandfathers (original name of Mt Rushmore), holds religious significance for Native Americans.

3. The monument was built by Borglum, a white-supremacist sympathizer with connections to the Ku Klux Klan.

4. The monument celebrates the European settlers (two of which were slave owners) who killed so many Native Americans and appropriated their land.

The land grab from Native Americans

Before it was called Six Grandfathers, the mountain was called Cougar Mountain (Igmú taŋka Pahá), largely because of its vicinity to a colony of a large number of mountain lions and cougars. Then around 1870, a Lakota man had a vision of their ancestral spirits.

"The vision was of the six sacred directions: west, east, north, south, above, and below. The directions were said to represent kindness and love, full of years and wisdom, like human grandfathers." Thus the name Six Grandfathers.

Like all bloody conflicts, this land grab was triggered by the discovery of gold and lust for more land in 1864. The White settlers hoped to make fortunes by making railroads, organizing governments, and planning town sies. The presence of Native Indians halted this plan.

The solution was to massacre the Indians out of the area. Bounties of as much as $300 were paid for Indian scalps and Indian hunting parties were often organized to make the area 'conducive to white settlement'.

By December 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant faced increasing pressure to annex the hills. Therefore Native Americans were given an ultimatum to go to the reservations or be forced there by military action, resulting in the Great Sioux War of 1876.

Native Americans have always contended that the Black Hills of South Dakota belong to them and that the sacred land was stolen after gold was discovered there. In 1980, the Supreme Court agreed, ordering the federal government to compensate eight tribes for the seizure of Native land.

Borglum and the KKK connection

Borglum was the son of Danish Mormon polygamists in 1867 in Idaho. He later studied sculpture in Europe and was regarded as a talented artist. Being fascinated with art on a grand scale and complementing this with his passion for nationalistic subjects, he wanted to create bombastic and egotistical sculptures in the United States.

In September 1924, Borglum met Doane Robinson, a historian by profession who wanted to sculpt a tribute to American West in South Dakota, thereby attracting tourism and employment in the area. Borglum seized the opportunity and settled on the four American presidents.

Borglum's relationship with KKK preceded his work on Mt Rushmore. He had also worked on Stone Mountain, a confederate monument where the KKK rekindled its roots after the Civil war. KKK was a major source of funds for the Stone Mountain and Borglum' sHe was involved in their politics, rallies and served on several committees. As a white supremacist, he once said, "I would not trust an Indian, off-hand, 9 out of 10".

The Klan hardened Borglum's existing prejudices. He later became close friends with Klansman David "Steve" Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Realm of Indiana.

For the Lakota, this was one more violating act of colonization. In the words of Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, "Lakota see the faces of men who lied, cheated and murdered innocent people whose only crime was living on land they wanted to steal".

In Conclusion

Mount Rushmore's image is synonymous with freedom and patriotism; however, the other side of its story demonstrates the lack of understanding and respect shown to the Native people who inhabited for generations prior to European arrival.

America's sordid history cannot be undone. While the removal of monuments is a much controversial topic, the least we can do is not glorify the vestiges of hatred and vitriol towards minority communities.

References

THE SIX GRANDFATHERS, PAHA SAPA, IN THE YEAR 502,002 C.E.

The Six Grandfathers Before It Was Known as Mount Rushmore

Largest Mass Execution in US History: 150 Years Ago Today