"Despite suffering heart attacks, strokes and the effects of diabetes, Gerard Baker can still easily lift an 80-lb bag of feed for the cows he raises on his south-east Montana ranch. On the sprawling 640-acre property of pine and cottonwoods, buffalo grass and blue grass, Baker drives out early in the mornings to feed his cows and think about what he could have done differently."
"On 1 June 2004, Gerard Baker became the first Native American superintendent at Mount Rushmore national memorial, and his six years at the helm were both transformative and turbulent. Mount Rushmore was first conceived by Doane Robinson, the South Dakota state historian, who wanted to build sculptures in the Black Hills that reflected the American west and attracted regional car tourists."
"One hundred years later, the national memorial is a lightning rod of political and historical interpretation. In summer 2020, Donald Trump gave a speech at Rushmore that offered a narrow view of American history and the memorials and monuments meant to reflect that history. More recently, Rushmore has become a totem for Maga America, with legislation introduced to carve Trump into the granite."
Gerard Baker, despite serious health issues, manages a 640-acre ranch and served as the first Native American superintendent of Mount Rushmore beginning 1 June 2004. Mount Rushmore originated from Doane Robinson's idea to attract regional tourists with western sculptures but evolved under Gutzon Borglum into a political memorial celebrating four presidents as empire makers. Borglum dedicated the memorial on 1 October 1925. The site has become a focal point for modern political debates, including a 2020 presidential speech and proposals to add contemporary figures. The memorial sits on the Black Hills (Paha Sapa), land taken from the Lakota after 1877.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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