Signs posted at National Park Service sites seen as threats to ‘whitewash’ dark side of history

Rick Williams the leader of an American Indian group called People of the Sacred Land reacted with disbelief this month upon learning signs were posted at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado that critics are taking as a threat to whitewash history The signs which were posted June at all National Park Function sites by order of Interior Secretary Doug Bergum begin innocuously by asking visitors to download a QR code and answer three survey questions The first asks them to identify areas that need repair The second inquires about services that need improvement It s the third survey query that is surprising numerous and alarming particular It asks visitors to identify signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty grandeur and abundance of landscapes and other natural features A sign that is part of the Bluff Trail Interpretive Walk helps tell the story of the massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U S Army that occurred on Nov at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site as seen on Nov near Eads Colorado Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post Williams whose organization is comprised of Native leaders elders and concerned citizens who want the truth to be known about the forced relocation of Native people in Colorado was shocked I was a little horrified but I was scared too disclosed Williams whose ancestry is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne Basically this gives the average citizen a license to determine what they believe the truth is and defending it against somebody who has an opposing view could create hostility The signs also upset Japanese Americans after they went up at the Amache National Historic Site Like Sand Creek Amache is located in southeastern Colorado near the Kansas state line It was the site of a Japanese internment camp during World War II The way they are written seems to be more applicable to specific of the bigger national parks that talk about natural beauty announced Kirsten Leong a fourth-generation Japanese American who is vice president of the non-profit Amache Alliance That s not the congressional purpose of places like Amache In law the purpose for the park in the enabling act as designated by Congress is about telling these hard historical stories Amache was one of Japanese internment camps during World War II that were established by the War Relocation Authority More than people mostly U S citizens were incarcerated there from to At Sand Creek U S troops killed Cheyenne and Arapaho people in mostly women children and elderly Bergum s order issued May implemented provisions of an executive order signed two months earlier by President Trump titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History Trump complained about efforts to rewrite history by replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth He asserted that the nation s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty individual rights and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist sexist oppressive or otherwise irredeemably flawed Bergum s order directs land management bureaus within the Interior Department which include the National Park Arrangement and Bureau of Land Management to identify monuments memorials statues and markers that contain images descriptions depictions messages narratives or other content that inappropriately disparages Americans past or living or emphasizes matters unrelated to the beauty abundance or grandeur of revealed natural feature Hikers head out on the trail at Hollowell Park trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado on June Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in recent months requested that signs be posted at all national parks monuments and historic sites encouraging visitors to provide feedback One of the new signs featuring a QR code for guests to scan is displayed at the trailhead Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Kyle Patterson populace affairs officer at Rocky Mountain National Park noted signs have been posted in a variety of public-facing locations including visitor centers toilet facilities trailheads and other visitor contact points that are easily accessible and don t impede the flow of traffic Sierra Willoughby residents information officer at Great Sand Dunes National Park mentioned the signs were posted at the park s visitor center This effort reaffirms the NPS mission by emphasizing the importance of accuracy in how we tell stories of American history Willoughby wrote in an email Our visitors come to national parks to celebrate the beauty abundance and grandeur of America s landscapes and extraordinary multicultural heritage This allows them to personally connect with these special places free of any partisan ideology Numerous park visitors have been using the surveys to plead for increased funding Advocates for the national parks say they were severely underfunded even before Trump took office The park function estimates its nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance stood at nearly billion including million at Rocky Mountain National Park Now according to the National Parks Conservation Association the National Park Facility is facing million in budget cuts as part of Trump s budget This is the majority of extreme unrealistic and destructive National Park Amenity budget a president has ever proposed in the agency s -year history according to a announcement issued by National Parks Conservation Association chief executive Theresa Pierno It s nothing less than an all-out assault on America s national parks Estee Rivera Murdock executive director of the non-profit Rocky Mountain Conservancy based in Estes Park disclosed she s heard that visitors are complaining about inadequate funding in their survey responses I have talked to NPS folks nationwide who are seeing comments come in from different sites and loud and clear the dominant theme is We love these places they need more funding they need more rangers Murdock revealed It s hard to solicit feedback from folks to make changes if you don t have any mechanism or budgets to make those changes With the threat of budget cuts there are concerns that historic sites like Amache and Sand Creek with far less visitation than the big national parks could be closed Rocky Mountain National Park attracts million visitors annually Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde attracted and respectively in By contrast Amache had only Sand Creek Another National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado Bent s Old Fort attracted A road leads to a residential building and a replica of the old guard tower at The Amache National Historic Site on November in Granada Colorado Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post Related Articles Up a lazy river Florida tubing option lets riders enjoy life slowly Could you eat this much ice cream after walking miles Chosen Appalachian Trail hikers try Weeds aren t just nuisances they re messengers Here s what they can tell you You can visit any national park for free on June Camp at a Colorado hop farm this summer and enjoy beers onsite We believe in evidence-based history which I think the parks are as of now doing noted Dawn DiPrince chief executive of History Colorado who also serves as Colorado s official state historic preservation officer I don t think we should be changing that I am even more concerned about the proposed funding cuts I m especially concerned about our three historic sites in southeastern Colorado We have parks that were not created just for visitation numbers DiPrince added They were created by a whole group of people collectively to tell really significant American history That is why they exist and to measure them by sheer visitation numbers and threaten their existence by budgetary cuts and suggest we should be amending how we tell those stories in methods that are not evidence-based feels very problematic Williams noted he doesn t worry much about the Sand Creek Massacre site closing because the land will remain sacred to Native Americans Casualties of the massacre were buried there Williams explained and their spirits remain Of those visitors perhaps were American Indians Williams revealed and they re going to go there whether it s a national park or not