Some Native American perspectives on Pioneer Day

SALT LAKE CITY — Attending church on Pioneer Day weekend has never been something Shoshone leader and historian Darren Parry says he has looked forward to.

Many of Parry's ancestors of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1870s. As a six-generation Latter-day Saint, Parry says the church's culture and doctrines are all he's ever known. But that doesn't make the holiday any easier for him.

"I hate going that week because I just sit and hear these pioneer stories, and not once have I ever heard somebody say, 'You know, we displaced these people that were here and sorry about that.' I've never once heard that from the pulpit by any descendant of a pioneer," Parry said. "I'm not holding out hope that that will ever happen — but man, how cool would that be if it did, so I'll just continue to go and grin and bear it."

The Beehive State is home to eight federally-recognized tribes whose Shoshone, Ute, Goshute, Paiute and Navajo ancestors lived in Utah and surrounding states for millennia. The arrival of the Mormon settlers was a watershed moment that signaled the end to a way of life for many Native Americans.

"I've always said the coming of the pioneers was kind of a blessing but also a curse," Parry said. "While I'll celebrate all day with my pioneer friends who have ancestors, I wouldn't mind seeing just a brief pause and reflection on at what cost it came to Native American communities in this beautiful state that we call home."

Indigenous activist Carl Moore has never bought into the idea of Pioneer Day. But growing up in a Latter-day Saint family in Orem, he says he saw performing at Pioneer Day events in Provo as a way to share his Hopi roots, as well as his testimony of the church.

However, as an adult who is no longer affiliated with the church, he says his views on the holiday have changed drastically. Now he sees the day as a day of protest. For example, he and other activists have jumped into the Days of '47 Parade in the past with banners reading: "Illegal is a colonial concept" — referring to the connections between Indigenous peoples across the Americas that existed long before European settlers established borders.

Ways to spend Pioneer Day

Chelsey Nez-Merino's family has organized the Native American Celebration in the Park — an annual powwow held at Liberty Park on Pioneer Day weekend — for about three decades. Nez-Merino, who used to dance jingle dress, still remembers the first time she came into the celebration's powwow arena to perform, as a 12-year-old.

"It's a very spiritual thing to hear those drums, have everybody that you love around. ... It just felt like family," she said. "It is healing, and it's something that really gives you that energy and that strength to continue on."

This year, the Native American Celebration in the Park is getting a rebrand, as Nez-Merino and her two siblings take over the event through the Native American Chamber of Commerce. The Uniting Communities Pow Wow is free and won't feature fencing that closed off the event in prior years. Attendees can watch performances in the powwow arena, snack on treats from food vendors or pursue the children's corner and a Native American arts market.

Although the sibling trio has a new vision for the event that involves partnering with Native American groups, nonprofits and companies, the purpose is still the same.

"The vision has always been to make sure that we take up space on a day where it really wasn't inclusive to Native Americans. It's called Pioneer Day and that, in the name itself, does not include many communities," Nez-Merino said. "The purpose of this is for us to heal and for us to feel that pride in our histories and in our people. It's just a beautiful thing, in my perspective, for people to come together on a day where it's not as inclusive to us or recognizing our histories."

The Uniting Communities Pow Wow, held Monday from noon to 10 p.m., is one of two powwows held during Pioneer Day weekend. The 10th Annual Celebrating the People Powwow will be held in South Jordan on Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight. Nez-Merino encourages everyone to attend.

"We really find happiness and joy sharing our culture with others because it is a very, very beautiful culture," she said. "I want to see Utahns and people in general be kinder to each other, especially in taking away stereotypes and taking away how we speak about other cultures and to witness it themselves and educate themselves. I really want this to kind of be a talking point to say enjoy and celebrate other people's cultures."

Parry's advice to non-Indigenous Utahns this weekend is to get to know the modern-day resiliency of Native Americans and Utah history — both how Indigenous groups lived before colonization and how the church's presence and actions in Utah impacted them.

"Just get to know those people that were first here and you'd be surprised to find out that they had a religion, they worshiped the creator, they treated people with love and respect and kindness for the most part. We just lived a different way," he said. "I think there are lessons to be learned from learning from the past and taking a look at the past."

Moore agreed that Utahns should use the day to reflect on history and current Indigenous issues in Utah, like the fight for Bears Ears National Monument, Sen. Mike Lee's recent comments against the "Land Back" movement or the Utah Legislature's decision not to pass a bill offering legal protections for Native American children during adoption and foster care processes.

"Use the day if you have pioneer heritage to reflect on what the pioneers did — what they actually did — and not just think about all the sacrifices," he said. "Use that as a tool of realizing the reality that pioneers brought. They brought themselves and they established themselves as a government, as people who knew better than us, which is something that we currently fight as Indigenous people against the Utah state, Utah State Legislature and all that. We fight against paternalism."

Hope for change?

Moore encouraged those with pioneer ancestry to put themselves in Native Americans' shoes.

"There's so much fragility that goes on when you either stick up for yourself or present a different perspective to what is going on," he said. "LDS people wouldn't have liked it if they were here first and then you know, had Catholics come here and then all of a sudden they take over. ... They wouldn't like it and they definitely wouldn't like that there's a holiday of that celebrates the demise of their people or their culture or their religion. I'm not about instituting a different holiday. I'm just about abolishing the holiday."

Parry said more Utahns are becoming more aware of Indigenous history and the nuances behind Pioneer Day, pointing to an opportunity he had in recent years to give a "rebuttal" to Pioneer Day during a Latter-day Saint Sunday service and an invitation this year to speak at a Deseret Book-sponsored Pioneer Day event focusing on untold pioneers stories.

"I think we are more aware today, but I think there's still some communities that haven't gotten the message yet. But the fact that I'm getting a seat at the table, an invitation from Deseret Book to share our Shoshone story, I think speaks volumes of where we were a long time ago to where we are today. So, I think there is awareness. I don't think there's as much as I'd like to ever see, but I think we're making small, baby steps."

"For the last few years, I've refused to call it 'Pioneer Day' — but that's kind of tongue-in-cheek. I've been calling it 'manifest destiny day' instead," he continued. "As we celebrate Pioneer Day, it came at a cost to some people. It's just important that we recognize that. And how good would it be if we acknowledged some of our past and how it wasn't always pretty? But we are where we are, and what can we do together going forward? That really needs to be the message."

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