NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS - This week
This week's show is highly charged, to say the least. It focuses on one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Southwest: Don Juan de Oñate. Also known as "The Last Conquistador", Oñate is also the subject of a new documentary, airing here on KNME on Thursday, July 31 from 8-9pm.
The film focuses on a statue of Oñate that was erected last year in the city of El Paso, Texas. That statue is also one of the largest equestrian statues in the world, but for many people it is nothing more than a symbol of racism and oppression. That is especially true for the people of Acoma, a culture that was nearly erradicated by Oñate centuries ago.
The movie is a fascinating look at a difficult topic. It raises issues not only of race and history but also the role of public art in our society. We tried very hard to use the movie to start up a dialogue on many of these topics. And, we hope in some small way we have succeeded. In case you can't watch Friday night, the episode of NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS will re-air immediately after the film on July 31st, from 9-10pm.
For more information, check out our NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS webpage. We also have a lot of extras for you there, including an in-depth interview with one of the films producers, and over 90 minutes of videotaped discussion about the film, recorded after a recent screening of the movie here in our studios.
As always, thanks for watching!
Kevin McDonald
Public Affairs Producer
posted by Kevin McDonald at
11:08 AM
2 Comments:
As a long time view and supporter of KNME here in NM it is a tragedy to see the continued dipiction of the founders of this state, region, and hemisphere twisted and portrayed in such a dishonest light. The way "In Focus" manipulated their "open meeting" to only further the lies and propaganda of not only the members of Acoma pueblo but the spread of hate and prejudice. The "expert panel" showed their true colors immediatly with a lack of proven, factual knowledge of not only the events of Onate but of the incident at acoma. Acoma spilled blood first and then laughed from the mesa top. Justice was carried out but are we to still give pity to the offenders. Oral history is not fact, it is mythology. It does not prove or justify modern vandalism, racism, or politically correct revisionism. Why does no one cry out for the Spanish men, women , and children who were murdered, slain, enslaved, and abused by the indians of NM for hundreds of years. I guess the Hispanic residents don't pull in enough tourism dollars. Why do indian atrocities get over looked as survival. Yet the Spanish enforcement of law on it's own citizens is taken to the extreme of genocide. If you need an example of genocide pull out a history book and read about the 1680 pueblo revolt. That was genocide, against the spanish of NM. It was these law that the Hispanics brought that protected the indians as members of the Spanish empire. Do you think it is coensidense there are very few indians left in the new world except for in the spanish established territories. I have always expected more from PBS considering they asked the viewers to support the programming, but this can and will not be supported any further by my contributions. If you really want to help the indian movement keep dumping your hard earned money at the casinos and at the concerts. God knows the tribes will put that money back in to our community, right?
C. Martinez:
The Pueblo Revolt was not genocide. It would have been genocide if the Acoma and other pueblos sailed to Spain and hunted the Spanish on their soil. The Pueblo Revolt was just that. They rose, briefly, and were crushed a few years later by a still greater force.
Post a Comment
<< Home