Opinion

Editorial: Piestewa Peak a fitting honor

Friday, April 4, 2008

"No words can convey the endless ripples of anguish when a soldier doesn't come home from war. Children grow up without a parent. Spouses go on without a beloved. Mothers and fathers grow old without the joys of watching their child settle into adulthood.

No monument can make up for such losses.

But we try. As a nation and as a community, we honor our war dead. We want to ease the pain.

There are other pains that we, as a nation and a community, need to acknowledge.

The historic treatment of Native Americans is one of those. The injustices that were committed against these First Americans are a painful legacy.

Five years ago, these issues intersected when Gov. Janet Napolitano pushed to rename Squaw Peak in honor of fallen soldier Lori Piestewa, who was the first American Indian woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military.

The Governor's Office did some arm-twisting and a state panel waived the traditional five-year wait, allowing the name to be immediately changed from Squaw Peak, which some Native Americans find offensive, to Piestewa Peak.

It was the wrong way to do it.

But it was the right thing to do."

Get the Story:
Editorial: A soaring tribute (The Arizona Republic 4/3)