美国国家公共电台 NPR After Outcry, Sculpture Depicting Dakota Tragedy To Be Dismantled, Burned

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Tomorrow, a sculpture that was recently installed in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden will be dismantled². Later on, it will be burned in a ceremony. This was not the original intention of the artist. As Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr reports, the sculpture is coming down because of its connection to an infamous³ incident from more than 150 years ago.

EUAN KERR, BYLINE⁴: If you were just passing Sam Durant's huge wooden structure in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, you could easily mistake it for a two-story-high jungle gym. Indeed, it's designed to be climbed and explored, as Durant explained in a 2014 video.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SAM DURANT: Maybe you're not sure quite what it is, but it looks interesting. It looks playful. It's something that kids might think of as a big, yeah, jungle gym kind of thing.

KERR: Durant intended for that playfulness to draw people into a more serious conversation. The work is called "Scaffold," and it's a commentary on capital punishment in the U.S. It includes design elements from gallows⁵ used in seven historic executions, including those of abolitionist John Brown and Saddam Hussein.

But last week, the Walker Art Center, which manages the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, revealed that "Scaffold" also includes a reference to the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men following the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Within hours, native people had set up a protest site outside the garden. Sam Wounded Knee, a Crow Creek⁶ Dakota, was there.

SAM WOUNDED KNEE: This is a murder machine that killed our people because we were hungry.

KERR: The war began when a local agency refused to deliver promised food to starving Dakota. The mass hanging in nearby Mankato, Minn., that followed the war is the largest in U.S. history. And 155 years later, the pain has not diminished. Speaking at a press conference at the Walker yesterday, Dakota elder Sheldon Wolfchild said he was stunned⁷ the museum had not consulted the community.

SHELDON WOLFCHILD: It was beyond our comprehension that this could actually happen.

KERR: Wolfchild spoke⁸ after a mediation⁹ session among elders, the Walker, the Minneapolis Park Board and artist Sam Durant. Durant said his intention was to raise questions about government-sanctioned executions. He included a reference to Mankato because it was the largest U.S. mass hanging. The work has been exhibited in Germany and Scotland, but he realizes with its installation so close to the actual tragedy, he should have talked to the people living with the history.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DURANT: And again, I just wanted to apologize for the trauma¹⁰, the suffering that my work has caused.

KERR: The mediation group decided¹¹ the best course is to dismantle¹ "Scaffold" and then some time later burn it after a Dakota ceremony at Fort Snelling. It was the site of an infamous prison camp where many Dakota died after the war.

For its part, the Walker also apologized and said it will work to improve communication with the Dakota community. That includes commissioning native artists, perhaps even something to fill the space left by "Scaffold's" removal. For NPR News, I'm Euan Kerr in Minneapolis.

1 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

2 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

3 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

10 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。