Dear HCN,
It isn’t often I see a
story so well-written and, at the same time, so accurate as “Tribal
Links” (HCN, 6/4/01: Tribal Links). Mr. Selcraig is to be
complimented for managing the nearly impossible, colorful,
sometimes flip characterizations and turns of phrase that are right
on the money! I enjoyed reading that article and will look for his
byline in future. My one correction is that the spindly ocotillo at
Cochiti are almost certainly cholla.
The story is
timely. That in the last generation or so the Native American world
of New Mexico has undergone dramatic changes is indisputable. The
advent of gaming and golf has divided that tribal world into the
haves and the have nots; those who have gone for the buck and those
who, in strict observance of culture and traditions, have not. I
doubt that everyone sees golf as a good thing, somehow morally
superior to the evil but lucrative industry of gaming. Both are
highly seductive, extremely wasteful, alien concepts, and both have
profound implications for Native American cultures. You ask, “Why
are New Mexico’s Indian tribes embracing the ultimate white man’s
game?” You could as well ask, “Why do some tribes choose not to
embrace the white man’s games?” The missing element in your tale is
those who have chosen to remain true to the old ways. To really
know why some of New Mexico’s Indian tribes are embracing the
ultimate white man’s game, you need to look at those that are not.
The answer is that which makes the world go
round.
William
Baxter
(Scots ancestry,
non-golfer)
Santa Fe, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Not all tribes like golf.
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