Reflections of SF Giants Native American Heritage Night 2014
Reflections on SF Giants Native American Heritage Night 2014
by Samuel White Swan-Perkins
The fourth annual SF Giants Native American Heritage Night was celebrated this past July 23, 2014. One of many Cultural Heritage theme nights hosted by the San Francisco Giants, Native American Heritage Night is a fan favorite. Native American Heritage Night is organized and coordinated by a group of volunteers from the Bay Area Native American community. Planning such an event takes several months. Dancers and singers representing about a dozen Native nations took the field before a sold out crowd of some 40,000 fans. A few Native performers had driven from as far away as Sacramento to attend the festivities and the ballgame with their beloved Giants. Many had even incorporated the teams infamous black and orange motif into their regalia.
Besides offering non-Natives a glimpse at our traditions, in particular those of Northern California Natives, ticket sales generated $4,000 that will go to aid the Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. The and the American Indian Child Resource Center. Shadowbird (Randy Pico, Luiseño of Pechanga & Paulette Pico, Diné) and as Bear River Rancheria were in attendance, as were representatives from the National Indian Justice Centers’ summer program. The California Native dancers that were present included Pomo Dancers and singers from Sonoma, Clear Lake, Santa Rosa, and Robinson Rancheria. Friendship House Drum provided the powwow music for a truly intertribal dance: just some of the Nations represented were the Creek, Dine, Lakota, Kiowa, Acoma, Puyallup, Dakota, Lumbee, Karuk, Shoshone-Bannock, Paiute, Maidu, Luiseño of Pechanga, Apache and Santa Clara American Indian communities. Many prominent, long time San Francisco and Oakland Natives and their families were at the park as well.
Overall the late afternoon and evening events went swimmingly. For four hours, Native and non-native spectators alike were invited to watch traditional dancing and singing. A waicipi (a small informal dance of from the Lakota) was held right outside the gates prior to the main event in the stadium. About two dozen powwow dancers exhibited their individual styles. Earl Neconie (Kiowa) was the official MC for the event and hundreds of passers by paused to listen to the Big Drum and watch the dancing while Earl provided a brief history and explanation of each powwow dance style. Many of our Native children were in attendance and dancing, drawing smiles and claps of encouragement from the crowd. The community was invited to enjoy a brief round dance before wrapping up the first portion of the evening.
Inside the stadium, the Giants had seen fit to provide a green room for the dancers and singers. This provided a brief respite and photo opportunities before hitting the field. Thankfully the cool, bay breeze had set in providing perfect dancing weather. Walking through the press tunnel and onto the field was surely a moment few will forget. The sweeping vista of AT&T Park is a sight to behold. Taking a moment to pause on that red clay down the first and third baselines and looking around at the vast openness of the stadium was truly awe inspiring. Many dancers commented on the excellent dancing surface the grass field provided. The Friendship House Singers provided a few of intertribal songs while Sonoma County Pomo Singers’ clapper sticks appeared on the jumbotron. The acoustics of the stadium allowed their voices and clapping to carry far across the Bay as the audience cheered for the performers. Later, the Giants displayed two different Native themed public announcements which were a hit with the crowd. The subsequent loss to the Padres put no damper on the festivities; many jovial faces were seen on the way out of the park.
One unfortunate and upsetting incident marred the evenings fun, however. According to sources closely involved with the organizers and the Giants, there was an incident with a non-Native fan who chose to wear a fake warbonnet to the game. The situation escalated into a verbal argument and eventually the intoxicated, headdress wearing fan handed over the offending item. April Negrette and Kimball Bighorse, who had peacefully argued with the fan, were subsequently removed from the park at the request of the SF Giants by San Francisco Police Department. Outside the park, the tort claim states, Mr Bighorse filmed the removal and brutal treatment of Ms Kimball by the SFPD until the officers turned on him and ended up detaining them both until the end of the event. Rachel Lederman, president of the Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild represents Negrette and Bighorse. Lederman states, “We are considering all legal options both as to SFPD and the Giants, to vindicate our clients’ rights under the UN Declaration and the US Constitution and obtain justice.”
In the meantime, the organizers and the San Francisco Giants are already organizing 2015’s Native American Heritage Night all the while considering a policy banning the wearing of headdresses at the park. >>
