Mark Bugnaski

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- Should it stay or should it go?

That's the question on the minds of the Kalamazoo City Commission and more than 50 people who continued a long-running discussion on what to do about racist interpretations of Bronson Park's Fountain of the Pioneers.

During a Monday City Commission meeting, residents, indigenous people and historic preservationists argued about whether the monument should stay or be placed in a museum. The commission had no vote scheduled, and will revisit the issue in 90 days.

More than 30 letters were sent to members of the City Commission between Oct. 17 and Nov. 17. The Gun Lake Tribal Council, representing the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, sent two letters stating its opinion.

Scroll below to see what each member of the commission said Monday, and read some of the letters to learn how your neighbors stand on the issue.

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Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians

Leaders of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians said removing the fountain will not erase a history of violence against their people.

Scott Sprague, chairman of the Gun Lake Tribe sent a letter to Mayor Bobby Hopewell on Monday to clearly define the Tribal Council's position on Kalamazoo's controversial Fountain of the Pioneers.

"History cannot be revised or erased by simply tearing down controversial artwork because of interpretations," Sprague said in the letter. "Removing the Iannelli sculpture will not change the fact that many of our Pottawatomi relatives were in fact 'forcibly removed' west of the Mississippi River. In spite of this action, we still remain, live, and thrive as one of the three Pottawatomi Indian Nations in Southwest Michigan."

In an Oct. 11 letter, Sprague said his people have a "sincere desire" to work closely with Kalamazoo on matters related to the Fountain of the Pioneers.

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Mayor Bobby Hopewell

Hopewell expressed some frustration at the end of the meeting Monday night.

After dueling petitions clashed about removing the fountain in 2005, the city convened a committee which included representatives from the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians. The Tribe's opinion was solicited, and has been supportive of a public education campaign that tells the story of forced removal of indigenous peoples, as well as the survival and success of the tribe and its role in the community today.

Years later, the city has raised $2.1 million of $2.8 million needed to implement the Bronson Park master plan. The process is put on hold, and Hopewell said he's not sure where that leaves the City Commission.

"The Tribe's voice is number one for me," Hopewell said. "It's hard for me to say 'let's ignore this voice.'"

Hopewell said there is no perfect option. Regardless of the decision, the community will be split.

At the same time, Hopewell said he believes the fountain should stay and continue to teach residents this story.

"Let's put the history in your face," Hopewell said. "Let's learn from that."

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Vice Mayor Erin Knott

Members of the Tribe reassured Knott that there remains a strong partnership between themselves and the City.

She encouraged city staff to begin thinking about how the community will heal after the fountain debate is put to rest.

"Regardless of the outcome, we are going to have a very divided community," Knott said.

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Commissioner Shannon Sykes

Sykes said the group of people who support the Fountain is not "diverse at all." Calling the renewed discussion hysteria is "absurd," she said.

"You cannot begin to fully understand the implications of racism -- period," she said to the fountain supporters Monday. "You will never know what that feels like. Do not assume that you can speak to what (racism) is of what that means or how that feels."

The issue at hand isn't not about historic oppression of indigenous people, she said, but about that oppression continues today. Normalization of oppression is often allowed in what images a community surrounds itself in, Sykes said.

Though it's been argued that the Fountain of the Pioneers was created to spark public discussion about past injustices, Sykes said it comes at the discomfort and pain of indigenous people.

"Impact is greater than intent," she said. "The voices of our residents who are hurting and in pain are important, and they matter in this conversation."

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Commissioner David Anderson

Anderson said he appreciated that those involved in the conversation recognized that both sides contained people of good will. He made a few comments that Anderson said did not relate directly to the fountain, but plays into the larger discussion of what things communities decide to remind themselves of.

He also took time to highlight the "brutal" cycle of land acquisition and forced removal that has occurred across the globe, throughout history and by almost all cultures. Modern societies are dealing with that fact in different ways.

"This is the kind of thing we have experienced as human beings, over and over again," Anderson said. "It is a continuing function of how we have lived and grown here on this planet."

No culture has completely clean hands, he said, and none are totally evil either.

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Commissioner Don Cooney

Cooney said he is proud of the community for taking the issue seriously and presenting eloquent arguments on both sides.

He also expressed respect for those who worked on the Bronson Park master plan, an effort to make the community better and more beautiful. Historic preservationists and others believe the statue can teach people about mistakes of the past.

Cooney agreed, but asked: At what cost will that lesson be taught?

"What we have learned is the visual effect of that statue is pain," Cooney said. "If that's the effect, we should do something about it."

White supremacy is celebrated in America at the highest levels of power, Cooney said, and Kalamazoo should make a stand against it.

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Commissioner Eric Cunningham

It was a late night for Cunningham, whose first meeting after the election was around five hours long.

Though history is often written by the winners, Cunningham said future generations will not look kindly on the "atrocities" of early settlers.

Cunningham tried to relate to people who feel oppressed by the statue's iconography; if the fountain depicted a slave-owner standing over a slave, he would take it down personally.

The opinion of the Tribal Council is most important, Cunningham said. However, he did not feel comfortable taking a firm stance on whether the fountain should stay or go.

Cunningham said he is a strong supporter of the public education component to the Bronson Park master plan.

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Malachi Barrett | mbarret1@mlive.com

Commissioner Jack Urban

Urban said the discussion is a rich example of what the Constitution was put in place to do.

It's important for residents to continue sharing diverse opinions and learning from one another.

"What we value as a society is the diverse discussion we had this evening," Urban said. "I hope we can each recognize that in our own hearts."

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The Fountain of the Pioneers in Bronson Park was covered with a tarp on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Malachi Barrett | MLive.com)

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Eugene Strong's ancestors lived on Gun Lake Band Tribal lands. The burial mound expert said recreation in Bronson Park is disrespectful to remnants of the mound-building Hopewell Indians, who lived in this area centuries ago.

During a Nov. 21 protest against the park's Fountain of the Pioneers, Strong said he wants it all removed.

"This was at one time the land of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish; it still is," Strong said.

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