Website for comments

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As you may know, the General Services Administration
(GSA) opened the Historic Preservation 106 process
last March, concerning the offensive murals that are
in place at the Ariel Rios Building at EPA
Headquarters in Washington.

SAIGE – the Society of American Indian Government
Employees - has been named as a consulting party in
this process, and its representatives have been
involved in discussions surrounding the need for the
removal of the murals that we believe are highly
offensive to American Indians. In order to facilitate
public comment on the murals, the GSA has developed a
webpage where you may view the images, read the
background, and access information regarding the
Historic Preservation Act and the GSA Portfolio
management within their Arts program. At long last,
this webpage is up and running and the GSA will be
accepting comments until the deadline of December 1,
2005.

We greatly encourage you to visit it and to provide
the GSA with your own opinions on one or all of the
murals in question. The initial egregious one that
SAIGE has objected to is “The Dangers of the Mail” by
Frank Mechau, and also its companion piece, “Pony
Express.” You may visit our website to see the SAIGE
position outlined at
www.saige.org/epamural/epamural.htm

While we may view these as obviously inappropriate for
a federal workplace, remember that there are plenty of
other voices in opposition to the murals’ removal, and
the GSA needs badly to hear from us and our
supporters. There are those who really fear setting a
precedent that will affect all artwork the federal
government owns. So please, spread the word and
forward this message far and wide among your own
circles so that the GSA will get a definitive message,
loud and clear, from Indian Country. Please be sure to
follow the required format outlined there in making
your comments. Don’t put it off, but please take some
time to organize your feelings in a strong and
articulate manner, and provide the GSA with all the
reasons it needs to remove these murals once and for
all.

Here is the webpage of the GSA where you can access
this opportunity to make a change in the way that
American Indian people are viewed and treated by the
federal government:

www.gsa.gov/arielriosmurals

Thank you for your continuing support of SAIGE and our
efforts to assist American Indians and Alaska Natives
employed by the federal government.

Lori Windle
SAIGE Secretary
Denver, CO