((PKG))? REMOVING STATUES??
((TRT:? 08:14))
((Banner: Reconsidering Statues))
((Reporter/Camera: ?Arturo Martínez))
((Map:? Ventura, California))
((Main characters:? 1 female))
((Sub characters: 3 males; 1 female))
((NATS))
((Video Courtesy: David Zandman))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
I was watching the world news of all these statues coming down and all this national attention to these iconic figures of history and what they represent and the energy and power that it generated through Black Lives Matter. People who are angry, people who are vandalizing and getting out all this anger and frustration of all these generations of all colors. I called my tribal group. I sent them emails, “Look, something needs to happen here.”
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
Father Serra was the man who came in, in the 1700s, to start establishing those missions all along Alta California. Here we were the workforce. We were the ones that, my family, my direct family, my great-grandfather was part of that mission system, that mission period. They were told, “You're going build this for us and you're going to change your way of life.” And the punishment for disobeying was physical punishment. As time went on and more people kept coming in, the diseases came in. That was a very detrimental time for us. It changed us completely and, in fact, left us to the point of near extinction.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
People are arguing that he isn’t responsible for the cruelties and punishments and rape and genocide. But he was knowledgeable and as an iconic figure of that time period, he represents all of that.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
So, everything you see here as you look around, know that it was all Chumash land at one time and occupied for thousands and thousands of years with each village being separated from one another.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
We want the city of Ventura to remove the statue. This statue representing the city, it really shouldn't. It should represent Catholicism and love of Jesus Christ in God in a proper setting. The aftermath of after he died and after sacralization, people were not set free. They were in a sense, but they were still subservient to the next generation of people coming in, the pioneers. And then, you know, even today, we're still looked at and we face that prejudice and racism all my life. That, well, unless I look like you, otherwise I'm called the N-word, growing up.
((NATS: Julie Tumamait Stenslie and Father Tom Elewaut))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
Good to see you, Father Tom. I came to you first because this is the symbol of your devotion and the community, of the Catholic community that's here. It belongs to all of you.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
One thing that our church and society has failed to do is to give proper recognition and reconciliation. But it's your land and your ancestors built that mission. And you informed me of a call for a protest to take the statue down. And from that, we came up with a joint statement to say that we feel that it's probably time to relocate the statue but we want to do it with due process, with non-violence, something that can be replicated in other communities for respect and actually become a model because we could see what was happening in the nation. Some people thought it was a great thing we signed that document. Other people thought it was the worst thing we should have done. So, we can’t please all the people.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
The way that we want to see it, it would be the first time that City and Church and Indigenous Peoples have come together in this place. But ultimately it is the City of Ventura’s Council that will ultimately make the decision to remove the statue.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
All right. God bless.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
You too. God bless you.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
We'll be in touch.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
All right.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
Thank you.
((Popup Banner:
The Ventura City Council unanimously voted to relocate two statues of Father Junipero Serra at a special public meeting on July 15, 2020.))
((NATS))
((Locater: Ventura City Hall, California: 4 a.m.))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Shame on Ventura today. We used to honor great men here. Now we just honor mediocracy.
((NATS))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Shame on you for not standing up for the citizens of Ventura, not standing up for your faith. We have nothing to be ashamed about him. He just loved the Chumash people. He was here to help them. He defended them.
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Like the very few things we do know about his life is that he walked down to Mexico to get the Chumash a bill of rights. So that way, the Spanish would not take away their lands and harm them. We know that he cared for them so much and gave his life for them.
((NATS))
((Ventura Resident))
God bless you Saint Serra. Thank you for serving your city and your mission.
((NATS))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
He was the civil founder of this town. He was our founder. It’s not just he was a religious leader. Yes, he was a religious leader but he's also the founder of our town, a great founder. And that's why he belongs here in front of the City Hall.
((Phil Nelson, Ventura City Public Works))
I agree. It’s a very multifaceted issue. You and I both know that there were many strong opinions on whether it should stay or whether it should go. We went through the correct process. The council made a decision. That's why we have an elected body, is to make those decisions. It was an issue that needed to be addressed now.
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
It was not an issue that need to be addressed now. The statue has been up for nearly 100 years.
((Phil Nelson, Ventura City Public Works))
It has but the public…..
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Just because a couple, a big mob that threatens violence, does not make it, “Oh, we must give in to them immediately.” What if I start threatening violence? Would you give in to me? No, you never would. You only give in to them.
((Ventura Resident))
And I'm here today. It's not a victory. It's a reminder in a direction that we have to go. The inequities of our past, of the future are so important that we do not continue to teach our children or glorify these particular type of individuals. We're not trying to take away anybody's religion or anyone's beliefs. That’s not what we’re here for.
We're here just to remind each individual people and each person that there is truth behind history and we are no longer ready to accept the ways of what has really happening here and what’s really happened to our First Nations people from slavery.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
I wonder if they would be honking if we weren't here.
People keep wanting for us to put a statue here. It's like, no, I want it to be nature. I think nature tells a greater, more beautiful story. To have a natural landscape here with native plants and a beautiful oak tree that will just loom with its branches spreading out. Where people are saying that taking the statue down removes history. No, we're making history. This is the first time something like this has happened in agreement with some type of social justice and advocacy for the mistreatment of the Native American people which can lead to the discussions of the inequality of people lesser than or presumed to be lesser than, in the way they were treated through racism, through financial disadvantages, for housing disadvantages, all those things that this statue could represent, and, maybe, make positive changes for people to treat people as human beings, as every right to enjoy this place of freedom that we call America, and justice for all.
((NATS))
((TRT:? 08:14))
((Banner: Reconsidering Statues))
((Reporter/Camera: ?Arturo Martínez))
((Map:? Ventura, California))
((Main characters:? 1 female))
((Sub characters: 3 males; 1 female))
((NATS))
((Video Courtesy: David Zandman))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
I was watching the world news of all these statues coming down and all this national attention to these iconic figures of history and what they represent and the energy and power that it generated through Black Lives Matter. People who are angry, people who are vandalizing and getting out all this anger and frustration of all these generations of all colors. I called my tribal group. I sent them emails, “Look, something needs to happen here.”
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
Father Serra was the man who came in, in the 1700s, to start establishing those missions all along Alta California. Here we were the workforce. We were the ones that, my family, my direct family, my great-grandfather was part of that mission system, that mission period. They were told, “You're going build this for us and you're going to change your way of life.” And the punishment for disobeying was physical punishment. As time went on and more people kept coming in, the diseases came in. That was a very detrimental time for us. It changed us completely and, in fact, left us to the point of near extinction.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
People are arguing that he isn’t responsible for the cruelties and punishments and rape and genocide. But he was knowledgeable and as an iconic figure of that time period, he represents all of that.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
So, everything you see here as you look around, know that it was all Chumash land at one time and occupied for thousands and thousands of years with each village being separated from one another.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
We want the city of Ventura to remove the statue. This statue representing the city, it really shouldn't. It should represent Catholicism and love of Jesus Christ in God in a proper setting. The aftermath of after he died and after sacralization, people were not set free. They were in a sense, but they were still subservient to the next generation of people coming in, the pioneers. And then, you know, even today, we're still looked at and we face that prejudice and racism all my life. That, well, unless I look like you, otherwise I'm called the N-word, growing up.
((NATS: Julie Tumamait Stenslie and Father Tom Elewaut))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
Good to see you, Father Tom. I came to you first because this is the symbol of your devotion and the community, of the Catholic community that's here. It belongs to all of you.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
One thing that our church and society has failed to do is to give proper recognition and reconciliation. But it's your land and your ancestors built that mission. And you informed me of a call for a protest to take the statue down. And from that, we came up with a joint statement to say that we feel that it's probably time to relocate the statue but we want to do it with due process, with non-violence, something that can be replicated in other communities for respect and actually become a model because we could see what was happening in the nation. Some people thought it was a great thing we signed that document. Other people thought it was the worst thing we should have done. So, we can’t please all the people.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
The way that we want to see it, it would be the first time that City and Church and Indigenous Peoples have come together in this place. But ultimately it is the City of Ventura’s Council that will ultimately make the decision to remove the statue.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
All right. God bless.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
You too. God bless you.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
We'll be in touch.
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
All right.
((Father Tom Elewaut, San Buenaventura Mission))
Thank you.
((Popup Banner:
The Ventura City Council unanimously voted to relocate two statues of Father Junipero Serra at a special public meeting on July 15, 2020.))
((NATS))
((Locater: Ventura City Hall, California: 4 a.m.))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Shame on Ventura today. We used to honor great men here. Now we just honor mediocracy.
((NATS))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Shame on you for not standing up for the citizens of Ventura, not standing up for your faith. We have nothing to be ashamed about him. He just loved the Chumash people. He was here to help them. He defended them.
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Like the very few things we do know about his life is that he walked down to Mexico to get the Chumash a bill of rights. So that way, the Spanish would not take away their lands and harm them. We know that he cared for them so much and gave his life for them.
((NATS))
((Ventura Resident))
God bless you Saint Serra. Thank you for serving your city and your mission.
((NATS))
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
He was the civil founder of this town. He was our founder. It’s not just he was a religious leader. Yes, he was a religious leader but he's also the founder of our town, a great founder. And that's why he belongs here in front of the City Hall.
((Phil Nelson, Ventura City Public Works))
I agree. It’s a very multifaceted issue. You and I both know that there were many strong opinions on whether it should stay or whether it should go. We went through the correct process. The council made a decision. That's why we have an elected body, is to make those decisions. It was an issue that needed to be addressed now.
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
It was not an issue that need to be addressed now. The statue has been up for nearly 100 years.
((Phil Nelson, Ventura City Public Works))
It has but the public…..
((Thrin Short, Ventura Resident))
Just because a couple, a big mob that threatens violence, does not make it, “Oh, we must give in to them immediately.” What if I start threatening violence? Would you give in to me? No, you never would. You only give in to them.
((Ventura Resident))
And I'm here today. It's not a victory. It's a reminder in a direction that we have to go. The inequities of our past, of the future are so important that we do not continue to teach our children or glorify these particular type of individuals. We're not trying to take away anybody's religion or anyone's beliefs. That’s not what we’re here for.
We're here just to remind each individual people and each person that there is truth behind history and we are no longer ready to accept the ways of what has really happening here and what’s really happened to our First Nations people from slavery.
((NATS))
((Julie Tumamait Stenslie, Chairwoman, Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians – Chumash))
I wonder if they would be honking if we weren't here.
People keep wanting for us to put a statue here. It's like, no, I want it to be nature. I think nature tells a greater, more beautiful story. To have a natural landscape here with native plants and a beautiful oak tree that will just loom with its branches spreading out. Where people are saying that taking the statue down removes history. No, we're making history. This is the first time something like this has happened in agreement with some type of social justice and advocacy for the mistreatment of the Native American people which can lead to the discussions of the inequality of people lesser than or presumed to be lesser than, in the way they were treated through racism, through financial disadvantages, for housing disadvantages, all those things that this statue could represent, and, maybe, make positive changes for people to treat people as human beings, as every right to enjoy this place of freedom that we call America, and justice for all.
((NATS))
