Statement of Fidel Two Bears Castillo:
I come before you as the spiritual leader of a small tribe of Native Americans on the cusp of extinction. At the same time, I am present to represent the millions of Native Americans who suffered and continue to suffer what can only be called attempted genocide.
Mission San Antonio (the Alamo) and other missions in San Antonio, Texas are being designated as a World Heritage Site. In that process, the role of Native Americans in the history of those sites is being excluded. Part of that exclusion is a refusal to recognize and protect Native American burial sites as sacred ground.
This petition asks President Obama to designate these burial grounds as a Native American National Cemetery as part of a process of acknowledging the true history.