Saturday, June 14, 2025

Will Native Presence at Alcatraz by removed or covered up by Trump Administration?

On June 13, 2025 The New York Times published an article titled National Parks Are Told to Delete Content that 'Disparages Americans.' Here's the first four paragraphs of the article by Lisa Friedman:

The Interior Department plans to remove or cover up all “inappropriate content” at national parks and sites by Sept. 17 and is asking the park visitors to report any “negative” information about past or living Americans, according to internal documents.

It’s a move that historians worry could lead to the erasure of history involving gay and transgender figures, civil rights struggles and other subjects deemed improper by the Trump administration.

Staff at the National Park Service, which is part of the Interior Department, were instructed to post QR codes and signs at all 433 national parks, monuments and historic sites by Friday asking visitors to flag anything they think should be changed, from a plaque to a park ranger’s tour to a film at a visitor’s center.

Leaders at the park service would then review concerns about anything that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times),” according to slides presented this week at a meeting with park superintendents. By Sept. 17, “all inappropriate content” would be removed or covered, according to the presentation.


Note the second paragraph says "other subjects." It isn't the first time Native peoples have been characterized by the media as "other." The fourth paragraph says that "inappropriate content" must be removed or covered by September 17th. I wonder what will happen at Alcatraz? 

I went over to the National Park Service page on Alcatraz and got these screen caps. Easy enough to delete web pages but what will they do with the writing on walls and on the water tower? Below are screen captures I did today, from the website.

This one is on the home page:


Scroll down and you'll see this one. Note the "Last updated" timestamp:

Clicking through the image above you'll go to the page that has these options:







What will be on the website between now and September 17th? If you click through those options you'll see many photos of Native statements declaring our presence and about Indian Land. Will those be painted over? Covered up? Or will a court pause these actions? We'll see.   

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This will be essential work. I wonder if their system will be structured to allow complaints about removal and erasure of factual information? I suggest we also keep an eye on national wildlife refuges, which are administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (part of the Department of the Interior). For example, a few years ago, a NWR in Washington was renamed Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge in honor of Native fishing rights advocate/activist Billy Frank Jr. As soon as someone in the administration realizes that, they may try to get rid of that part of the name, as was done with the ship named for LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk. We will need to be vigilant. Place names and the information shared about them tell a story that we all, including young people, need to know.