For more than eight months, local Native Americans have pleaded with Bismarck city officials to rename Custer Park, a two-acre park in the middle of a neighborhood near the city's downtown. Demonstrators met before the Thursday Park Board meeting in front of Bismarck's City/County Building holding signs bearing phrases such as "listen to us" and "no pride in genocide."
Earlier this year, the Bismarck Park Board unanimously voted not to change the name of Custer Park and enacted a policy that states once the board has considered a petition to rename a park, it will not consider renaming the same park for 15 years.
The park's namesake generates pride for some and trauma for others.
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer fought for the Union in the Civil War, and in 1876, bands of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne defeated him and the 7th Cavalry in the Battle of Greasy Grass, also known as Custer's Last Stand.
Custer triggers historical trauma for many because he slaughtered hundreds of Native American men, women and children, said Angel Moniz, a Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation member who spearheaded the effort to rename Custer Park.
In addition to the Park Board declining to rename the park and enacting a new policy, the board voted to create a panel or educational component that would outline Custer's legacy and include the perspectives of those in the Native American community.
The details about the educational component were expected to be discussed at the Thursday meeting, but local advocates once again asked the Park Board to reconsider its decision to keep the Custer name.
"We must think of our future generations when we make decisions that impact us," Moniz said during the meeting. "This land has been divided and conquered, and we are all healing from that."
She said many in the Native American community did not want educational panels at Custer Park, as it would negatively affect the community by pointing out his malfeasance. Instead, Moniz said, the board should create a committee that includes Native Americans, educators and historians to "build bridges" in the community.
During the meeting, Moniz pointed out that every member of the park board was white, and she asked each member to take note of their internal biases.
Tensions increased after community members testified, with many Native American advocates interrupting board members and expressing that they felt they were being silenced.
Board President Julie Jeske told the audience multiple times that those who were not quiet would be forcibly removed from the meeting and at one point told those who were interrupting to remove their masks while speaking.
"Excuse me, be respectful ... and do not hide behind a mask when you are talking," Jeske said.
Attendees were required to wear masks and social distance.
Park board member Mike Gilbertson pointed out at the meeting that although he was white, his wife was a person of color and that he "was well aware" of the discrimination brought up by some of the meeting attendees.
Multiple park board members pointed out that many public spaces in the Bismarck-Mandan area, including a school, hold the name "Custer," and changing the park's name would act as a catalyst for renaming the others.
They said the community was not ready for that.
"It's bigger than us," Gilbertson said. "This is not a Bismarck-specific problem."
When it became clear the board would not talk about the matter further, many Native American attendees left the meeting, expressing their frustration with the board and calling their actions "shameful."
After leaving the meeting, Moniz said that although they felt silenced by the park board, renaming Custer Park was something they would continue to fight for.
"We will keep showing up," she said. "This is what we live in, but we knew this already. We face this every day."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Michelle Griffith, a Report for America corps member, at mgriffith@forumcomm.com
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