 |
 |
Editor:
The University of Arizona is going to start a Ph.D. program in Native American studies.
Mind you, this is the university which spent $1 million lobbying Congress to exempt its Mount Graham telescope project from laws protecting Native American culture. This is the university which covered up the fact that the mountain is sacred to the Apaches as long as possible, then resolutely ignored the repeated protests of the tribal council. This is the university that consistently relied on misinformation and misrepresentation in its dealings with the tribal council.
Kind of makes you wonder what kind of courses the university will offer in its Indian Studies program. Here are some guesses:
PAVING THE SACRED - an intensive, field-work oriented class on whether it's better to use asphalt or concrete when covering over sacred ground.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER - an examination of whether the tactics used to turn one Apache group against another in the late 1800s can still be utilized effectively against tribal councils today.
SUPERSTITIONS - a look at the indigenous mind, which can actually hold trees, rocks and animals sacred without any consideration for their open-market, monetary value.
Obviously, the possibilities are countless. Imagine all the course ideas the UA can also get from its lobbyists and lawyers.
Sky L. Jacobs
Tucson resident
|
|
|