By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
When Springfield College announced on March 25 that it was renaming parts of campus — including “Seven Fires” and “Council Ring” as well as “Sti-Yu-Ka” — as part of a reassessment of cultural appropriation at the school, it was met with scrutiny from both individuals who supported the changes and those who opposed it.
Rhonda Anderson, the Western Massachusetts Commissioner of Indian Affairs, told New England Public Media that she believed the school did not do enough by only renaming some parts of its campus that carried Indigenous names. In contrast, some alums believed the decision was too extreme.
Calvin Hill, Springfield College’s Vice President for Inclusion and Community Engagement – who was part of the renaming committee – said that the school’s decisions were very complex and made after considerable deliberation.
“It was not an immediate process,” Hill said. “We took over a year to look at all the information that was coming to us.”
The data and information included a running document of details for the committee to review. The committee then met with a variety of people, including Native American groups, as well as the Board of Trustees and groups of students on campus. President Mary Beth Cooper finally released her recommendations for the names to the public via email.
“For this to have taken a year, I think it shows that the committee did its true due diligence,” Hill said.
Hill did not know when the actual renaming of the Sti-Yu-Ka event would happen, but did say that students will have input into giving the week a new name for next year.
“One of the things that we talked about was allowing the students to come up with a naming process, where they get a chance to vote and name it,” Hill said.
In her decision, Cooper said that the college would keep the name Massasoit on campus because of the importance the name has to alumni.
“For thousands of our alumni, Massasoit Hall is iconic: It is where they first encountered life at Springfield and for so many, it is the place they first met the people who became their lifelong friends,” President Mary-Beth Cooper said in a statement announcing the decision. “Sixty-three years of Springfield students have lived in that building. They aren’t going to call it something else, and personally, I don’t think they need to.”
The final, and perhaps most challenging decision for the committee, was what to do with the “Pueblo” on East Campus, and how to preserve the artwork in the Pueblo by Luis Gonzales, also known as Wo-Peen.
Given that “Pueblo” is a Spanish term to describe Native Americans living in the southwestern part of the continental United States, it is seen by some as cultural appropriation. However, Pueblo is also the term to describe a form of southwestern architecture commonly seen in Pueblo villages, according to the school, which said the building is “named for its Southwestern architectural style.”
The next decision was how to preserve the artwork of Wo-Peen inside the building. The artwork is considered sacred to the building. The building needs structural work, but the artwork can not just be removed. It must be fixed along with the building.
The school invited Edmund and Thomas Gonzales, the son and grandson of Luis Gonzales, to Alden Street on April 18 and 19 to visit campus and to look at the building and the artwork to see if they had any suggestions for what to do. Edmund, an artist himself, was the perfect person to provide input on the course of action they should take to restore the art.
“It needs to be done in a thoughtful way,” Hill said. “Someone has to look at the types of paint so you can match it. You can’t just go to Home Depot and say that this is the same color paint and use it. So we wanted to bring someone in like Edmund Gonzales, who’s a painter himself, and perhaps have them do some of the work.”
Edmund’s familiarity with the style of painting used by his father and the images he painted were imperative to the committee, and his insight on the trip was essential in determining the proper restoration techniques for the paintings.
Edmund said he visited to see his father’s work and also to figure out the dates, times and people involved with his work.
Edmund and Thomas also spoke with multiple members of the campus community about whether the name Pueblo was cultural appropriation, and if there were logical ways of resolving it. During their visit, they said that the emotional attachment to Pueblo, and how it signifies growth, was a direct representation of the culture of their tribe.
“We take it that his intention of why [Wo-Peen] came here was that he was bringing some of us out here to share with this community in a good way,” Thomas said. “The feelings and interviews with everybody that we have talked to have all been so rich. I feel good about just being in the space and hearing how it has impacted people. I think that’s what the intention was.”
He also offered his own solution to the potential naming of the Pueblo, one that honors the past of the building.
“It would be nice if they maybe look at doing something in the future, maybe naming the building [after Wo-Peen]. That would be nice to elevate the space,” Thomas said.
Photo courtesy of Johan Amaro Gonzales.