Indigenous Native Tased By Park Ranger At A National Monument After Walking Off The Path To Pray

Newsbreak

An incident happened at the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The park is home to a variety of ancient petroglyphs carved into stone by indigenous people centuries ago, and is a top tourist attraction in the area. It is also a land considered to be sacred by the native tribes. The incident happened to Darrell House, an indigenous man who walked off the path to find a solemn place to pray.


House explained he walked off the path to find a place to pray, and also avoid a large group of people that was coming down the path ahead of him, which seemed to be a good idea to maintain social distancing with the current pandemic. House was confronted by a ranger, and did not immediately give his ID when the officer demanded it. I didn’t see a reason to give my identification. I don’t need to tell people why I’m coming there to pray and give things in honor to the land. I don’t need permission or consent, and I don’t think he liked that very much,” House said.

The ranger immediately pulled out his taser and fired at House after his commands were not obeyed. Apparently, House was carrying his dog, who felt the taze as well. I was holding my dog, so my dog got tased as well, he felt the shock, he felt everything. I ended up dropping him when I fell,” House told KRQE. After he was tased, a second ranger arrived on the scene and placed House in handcuffs.

Twitter

House maintains the ranger who tased him abused his authority to inflate his ego.He wanted to show power, dominance, keep me in order. That’s what authority figures are trained to do, to keep people like me in order. To make the ‘Indian’ look crazy, to make them look insane.” After being attacked by the ranger, house was given 3 citations which included being off the trail, giving false identity information, and interfering with agency function and resisting.

A spokesperson for the National Park Service, Vanessa Lacayo, said in an email that they were investigating the incident. We take any allegation of wrongdoing very seriously, and appreciate the public’s patience as we gather the facts of this incident,” Lacayo was reported as saying by NBC News.

House stands by his belief that native people should have access to their sacred lands, without being harassed (and assaulted) by authorities for not showing identification. We don’t have a set time, we don’t have set places, we don’t have buildings, and we don’t have things built to worship,” House expressed. Nature is what we’ve been worshiping…and protecting it has always been our job.” He further explains, I am Native, you know.I have rights to this land. I have rights off the trail.” House explained the incident will not deter him from going back to pray and meditate at the sacred site.I will go back. I will continue to do my prayers, going off trail without permission. Without consent. That is my right,” a defiant House said.


Given that the park is a National Monument, and thus there are rules, park authorities should be more understanding of the indigenous people who consider it a sacred site. It primarily became a tourist attraction and National Monument because of the native people’s ancestors. A little more respect and tolerance, not showing an ID does not pose imminent danger to a park ranger (especially with the Native holding his little dog). Maybe the park should consider employing native people as park rangers instead, surely they could do a better job.

 

What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!

True Activist / Report a typo

Popular on True Activist