Santa Fe city councilors debate relocating Soldiers’ Monument

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Santa Fe city councilors, residents, and indigenous communities debated a resolution on Wednesday to relocate a controversial monumen t from the Santa Fe plaza to a cemetery. The Soldiers’ Monument, meant to honor Civil War Union soldiers, stirred controversy for decades with one of its four plaques referring to Indigenous people as “savages.”

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Protestors took down the monument in 2020 and the city has been trying to figure out what to do next. Last month, three Santa Fe city councilors proposed a new resolution looking to move the monument from the main plaza to the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

After more than an hour of public comment, those against and for the future of the obelisk spoke out about what it means to them. “As a 12-year-old I know that this is racist, when I first learned about it. The first time I heard savages against me and my community, I knew it was racist,” said a speaker at the meeting.

“The Soldiers’ Monument is not racist. People don’t understand that north-facing plaque in the language that it meant at the time,” said another speaker.

Councilors were worried if the monument were to be put back up in the plaza, it would cause a public safety concern and referenced a shooting last year in Rio Arriba County during a protest over the planned reinstallation of the Don Juan de Onate statue. Councilors unanimously voted to postpone a decision on the resolution until their meeting on October 30.

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