Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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The recent desecration at Prairie Park is a deeply troubling but foreseeable continuation of a process of removal that began more than 150 years ago.
Lawrence sits on land that was 90% prairie prior to 1854. That native prairie ecosystem, including the plants, buffalo, and other inhabitants were not here by accident. They were here because they were stewarded by Native people — especially through use of fire and other deliberate stewardship practices. Native prairie would not exist without Native people.
The World Bank recognizes Indigenous people as stewards of 80% of the planet’s remaining biodiversity. For future restoration and stewardship efforts to succeed for the City of Lawrence, at Prairie Park and beyond, they should be done in direct consultation and collaboration with Native people. This includes the appropriate Tribal Nations, should they wish to engage, and Native-led organizations and institutions. This would ultimately be for the benefit of everyone and everything.
There are no native prairies without Native people.
— Brett Ramey (he/him), Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Lawrence
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More Community Voices:
Letter to the Times: City should create oversight committee to guide pool renovation project, rebuild trust
”Our petition’s 1,764 signatures, our supporters’ 75 letters, and our research into the extensive flaws in the (pool renovation) community engagement process all indicate that the previously proposed plan did not reflect public opinion,” Holly Krebs writes in this letter to the Times.
Shawn Alexander: Say his name – Fred Harvey Smith (Column)
”Racial violence has been omnipresent in American history, and in far too many of the incidents, the perpetrators of the crime are acquitted or not even brought up on charges. When I think of such cases I am often haunted by the heinous murder of Fred Harvey Smith here in the land of John Brown in May 1936,” Shawn Alexander writes in this column.
Letter to the Times: Are veterans’ sacrifices for democracy worthless?
”My father (Navy), mother (Army), and many other family members served our country in World War II. … They gave of themselves, in countless ways, to stop the spread of authoritarianism, suppression of freedoms and tyranny of the many by the few,” Sandy Sanders writes in this letter to the Times.
