An issue has come to light in Long Beach, CA (Tongva territory) that negatively impacts the wellbeing of the Native American community. Lincoln Park - the oldest park in the city and  previously closed since 2017, due to construction - reopened with a ribbon cutting on February 11, 2022, touting a new 13-foot Lincoln penny monument and selfie spot. The reopening of this park with the Lincoln name is a step backwards for the city and community of Long Beach, which is home to a strong Native American community.

There is growing awareness that Lincoln was responsible for the largest mass execution in United States history; in December 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged under his order - these  unfair convictions and executions of the Dakota 38+2 resulted from the aftermath of the US-Dakota War of 1862 in southwest Minnesota. In addition to executions, there were terrible, inhuman injustices to more than 3,000 Dakota people who were held captive, then forced to march west out of Minnesota. Also, beginning in 1863, the Lincoln administration oversaw the removal of 8,000 Navajos from the New Mexico Territory, forcing the Navajo to march 450 miles to Bosque Redondo in The Long Walk; eventually, more than 2,000 died before a treaty was signed. Also occurring under Lincoln’s watch was the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre in southeastern Colorado, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapaho. In general, the majority of Abraham Lincoln’s policies proved to be detrimental to Native Americans.

Modern day trauma, in the form of monuments and statues of murderers and colonizers, Native mascots, water and land grabs, sundown sirens, cultural appropriation, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women - still surround and harm Native peoples, as well as all society. The effects of historical and continued trauma include post traumatic stress disorder, addiction, incarceration, suicide, houselessness, internalized oppression, and reduced sense of identity and self-esteem, to name a few. We are in a new era of righting the wrongs and confronting America’s genocidal acts and policies against Native People - across this state, in the past years, Californians have began to witness the removal of Christopher Columbus and Junipero Serra statues, and even the local California State University, Long Beach’s Prospector Pete statue and mascot - as well as the removal and renaming of harmful names - including S-word (“Squaw”) Valley, on Washoe homelands in Northern CA. 

In November 2016, Long Beach City celebrated their first annual Native American Heritage Month, where they aimed to “educate the general public about Tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which Tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges and enriched our Nation.” In 2017, Long Beach provided a statement of support to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which “[called] upon the President of the United States and the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.” Also, in 2017, Long Beach replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. Honoring the Native People of these lands beyond these statements requires that the City of Long Beach tell the truth and atrocities of history; this requires extending beyond empty and symbolic gestures, including tangible actions by leadership to call out the minimization of genocidal acts and romanticization of Manifest Destiny.

With the George Floyd uprisings and growing awareness about these issues of truth telling, healing, and reconciliation - the reopening of this park and creation of the new penny monument is harmful, triggering and confusing. We, a group of Native American community members including the local Tongva, as well as mental health professionals, educators, Native veterans and cultural workers, are campaigning around the issue of Lincoln Park. Our focus is on education, truth telling, healing of historical trauma - which is in alignment with Gavin Newsome’s California Truth and Healing Council - with intention and spirit of truth and healing.

We call for Lincoln Park to be renamed with consultation with the Gabrielino-Tongva people, an official removal of the new penny statue, the Lincoln statue and a new monument in dedication to the Native Peoples of the Long Beach region, the Gabrielino-Tongva.

We are asking for support from the Native community near and far in the form of petition signatures and petition sharing, as well as support from allies and organizations. 

In Solidarity,

Long Beach - Change The Name Coalition

To contact us and for updates: linktr.ee/lbchangethename

*Notes: 

- The $19.5 million Lincoln Park facility was funded through a Public Private Partnership with supplemental funding from the Port of Long Beach and a LA County Measure A grant. 

- Annually, there is a Dakota 38 Memorial Ride that serves to remember Dakota ancestors, remember history and to facilitate reconciliation and healing for the people.