Residents who live near 4-H Park have expressed their support for a memorial planning at the green space.
According to Source NM, the City of Albuquerque enclosed the entire northeast corner of 4-H Park in the area that serves as the final resting place for students and staff at the Albuquerque Indian School.
One neighbor who is pleased with the city’s plans is Toy Baldwin.
Baldwin, an alum of the St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, explained to Source NM that a memorial would help teach the public about the Native American school across the street from his home.
“[My father] started telling me about what’s going on here across the street from us,” he said, according to the website. ‘Apparently I’m a survivor, since I went to boarding school and I’m Native, and alive.”
Baldwin acknowledged the slew of everyday activities that occur at the park but asserts a memorial to the Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated institution would get people to show more respect for the space.
The city is affording residents four chances to discuss the next course of action for the Albuquerque Indian School burial site in the new year, Source NM reported.
Meanwhile, signs at the new fencing site warn people, “It is unlawful to disturb marked burial grounds and a violation can result in a fourth-degree felony charge.”
Source NM reported that Albuquerque officials earlier this month gathered input from tribal leaders from Laguna Pueblo, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Cochiti Pueblo and the Navajo Nation.
“A high priority for tribes and Pueblos, and the general public, is learning more about the site,” David Simon, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department, said, the website reported.
As discussions and research continue, a company hired by the city will scan the site with radar equipment to determine the number of remains and the location of their graves, Source NM reported.