Why Remove Statue of Captain Gray?

 Points to Advocate for Captain Robert Gray

Statue Removal

Presented at In-Person Meeting to Board Reps of

Garibaldi Maritime Museum
February 19, 2021

by Racial and Social Equity Tillamook

●      Land Acknowledgment: Even as we respect that the Garibaldi Maritime Museum is located on what is now considered private property, we wish to acknowledge and honor the prior and existing deep ties to this land held by the indigenous Tillamook and Siletz people, currently represented by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

●      Objective: On behalf of the members of Racial & Social Equity Tillamook, this appointed subcommittee recommends that the Garibaldi Museum remove the fraught statue of Captain Robert Gray from its prominent place on Hwy 101 where it stands as provocative relic of a racist past. We recommend that the statue be placed inside the museum where historians and curators can more effectively provide accurate and complete information about Captain Gray’s colonialist role in the northwest coastal region. Within this critical and educational context, visitors can explore ideas about the monument and consider their own relationship to its history.

●      Our history: We approach the removal of the statue of Captain Gray as white folks; his history is our history. We acknowledge that his miscreant deeds were a part of the larger colonialist mission of white explorers and pioneers to expropriate these lands and displace their indigenous inhabitants in an effort to make this territory part of the United States. Captain Gray’s legacy demands a reckoning.

 ●      Solidarity: We wish to express our solidarity with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, whose members include relations of those who resisted Gray's mission. A representative of the Cultural Resources Department of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde communicated to us that, in their engagement with the museum after the 2020 publication of the Street Roots article by Helen Hill, they affirmed, “Gray committed awful atrocities to our ancestors, that the native imagery on the box below Gray is not accurate to the area and the overall take on the statue was colonial,” and asserted, “Further we offered that the statue would be better placed inside the museum instead of along the roadside.” This statement should be impetus enough to move the statue from its prominent roadside position to a site inside the museum accompanied by critical and contextual commentary.

 ●      Statue Placement: The prominent placement of Captain Gray’s statue along Hwy 101 in full public view implicitly validates the colonialist, white supremacist triumph over the region’s native peoples. Whether or not this was the intention of those who installed the statue, it is time to let go of retrograde colonialist images premised on ideas of white superiority and indigenous inferiority. We recognize that stories of Captain Gray and his discoveries comprise an important aim of and significant exhibit space within the museum. At the very least, the statue should be moved away from the 101 and close up to the building, with revised signage. We also challenge the museum to a more critical engagement with Gray’s legacy.

 ●      Tillamook County Resolution: On March 11, 2015 the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners accepted a Resolution Declaring Welcome and Dignity for Residents, Visitors and Immigrants (see handout). This resolution reflects broad community support for multicultural inclusiveness that is inconsistent with a roadside display of conquest and genocide. It is urgent to expunge these significations of terror from public view.

 ●      National Reckoning: Removal of similarly fraught statues throughout the nation signals that Americans are willing to confront our nation’s history of racist conquest. More locally, high school teachers have used Captain Gray’s statue to teach a unit on genocide or stopped taking classes to the museum because students found its exhibits offensive and confusing. Descendants of Captain Gray have, themselves, recently offered amends for their ancestor’s treatment of indigenous people. The statue’s removal could become an opportune teaching moment for the museum to share with the community.

 ●      Garibaldi Pride: Removing an offensive and historically inaccurate statue from public view would take nothing away from the vibrant cultural legacy of Garibaldi. As exemplified by the Museum’s first floor exhibits, the historic US Coast Guard Boathouse, the marina and commercial fisheries, current US Coast Guard stations, the historic railroad and trains, the old lumber mill smokestack and area timber history, and even the famous Garibaldi “G”, all are important historic symbols that tell the city’s stories. Additionally, we encourage the museum to reconsider more fully the rich northwest maritime history and culture that predates Gray’s voyages by thousands of years. 

 ●      Summary: In sum, we hope the museum’s board of directors will resolve to take steps toward Captain Gray’s statue’s certain removal from its current roadside location. If our organization can be of assistance in any way, please let us know. Please keep us informed of the museum’s progress in this effort.

Questions? 

Get some answers by reviewing selected recent writings on this website to rethink the meaning of Oregon history.