Native American Monument
Over two years of intense work culminated on October 15, 2018, when TCU dedicated a monument acknowledging all Native American peoples who have lived in this region, especially the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The monument has significance on many different levels and offers multiple learning opportunities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. These opportunities include understanding the monument itself, the process behind its design, and the broader historical context that it represents. Realizing that the monument can be a powerful teaching tool, we hope the following explanations and learning activities will enhance your efforts to make TCU a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution by engaging and empowering Native American peoples and perspectives.
The monument consists of a bronze, circular plaque, mounted in rustic mahogany granite. Its dimensions are approximately 48 inches in width, 36 inches in height, and 14 inches in depth. It contains two statements, along with the seals of TCU and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The first statement forms an outer circle and is written in both Wichita and English:
This ancient land, for all our relations.
ti?i hira:r?a hira:wis hakitata:rira:rkwe?ekih
The second statement appears in the middle of the plaque, along with the seals of TCU and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes:
We respectfully acknowledge all Native American peoples who have lived on this land since time immemorial. TCU especially acknowledges and pays respect to the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, upon whose historical homeland our university is located.
The phrase encircling the plaque in both Wichita and English reflects that all living beings inhabiting this land—humans, animals, birds, insects, fish, plants, rocks, rivers, and all else—are connected and related. It acknowledges that we live in relationship with more than just the human beings who currently inhabit this land and that we seek to live respectfully on this land with each other. The second statement reflects our status as newcomers to this land. The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, as well as other Native Americans, have been living in the region now known as north Texas for hundreds of years, and their ancestors for much longer than that. Through their ancient connection to this land, these peoples developed ways of living here in a positive, beneficial, and respectful manner. This acknowledgment honors their success in living with this ancient land and puts our knowledge—the knowledge produced and learned at TCU—in the context of this ancient land. The circle is one of the major symbols in Native American cosmologies, reflecting the interconnectedness of all beings and the need for living in balance and harmony.
Including the Wichita language on the monument is important. Language is one of the major ways of expressing and transmitting a people’s culture. Furthermore, for most of its history, the United States implemented a policy designed to destroy Native American cultures by coercing and forcing Native Americans to stop speaking their languages and only speak English. The Wichita phrase on the monument represents both this process, as well as the resilience of the Wichita and other Native American peoples to maintain their cultures through their languages. The monument’s rustic mahogany granite, a stone indigenous to this area, and the bronze plaque’s circular shape, reflect our connections to this land and how we live in relationship with all beings.
The monument faces east, reflecting life and the rebirth of positive, healthy relationships with all our relations. The monument expresses Texas Christian University’s desire to have respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with all Native American peoples, nations, and communities. We look forward to taking the next steps in building a healthy and positive future.
TCU affirms the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion of all peoples. Native Americans must be included in these efforts in significant ways. Their voices and perspectives must be heard on our campus and they must be part of the power structures at TCU. Creating physical and intellectual spaces on campus that recognize and respectfully interact with Native American experiences, perspectives, and knowledge is one way to do so. This monument, which to our understanding is the first permanent representation dedicated to any group of color on our campus, is a physical manifestation of this recognition.