In Santa Fe, city leaders initiated a process not only to decide the future of a contested monument, but to create space for broader community dialogue and healing. The CHART (Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation, and Truth) initiative illustrates how a planning process can extend beyond a single symbol to engage deeper questions of identity, memory, and belonging.

For over 150 years, the center of the Santa Fe Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, had an Obelisk memorializing unknown Union soldiers for their actions in both the American Civil War and in fighting Native Americans. The Obelisk was not the subject of public controversy when it was erected in 1866. However, one of the four plaques on the base of the Obelisk read, “To the heroes who have fallen in the various battles with savage Indians in the territory of New Mexico.” The word “savage” was chiseled off in 1974 by an unknown person.

Before it became a state, New Mexico was a territory located below the Mason Dixon Line, which provided its people the option to keep or abolish the institution of slavery. Just prior to the Civil War, in 1859, the territorial legislature passed the Slave Codes, which, among other things, prohibited emancipation.^[4] Census records indicate that wealthy New Mexicans in the territory had enslaved approximately 50 people of African descent and several hundred Navajo and Apache.^[5] Union soldiers routinely destroyed Navajo and Apache crops, livestock, and homes, as part of an ethnic cleansing project emanating from the Indian Removal Act.^[6] The Navajo were ultimately subjected to The Long Walk, a 300+ mile journey to a concentration camp at Fort Sumner in present day New Mexico,^[7] while the Apache were forced out of New Mexico onto a reservation in Arizona.^[8] The Obelisk’s plaque memorializes these Union soldiers, a period of US history that caused deep and enduring harm to the indigenous communities that currently inhabit Santa Fe.

In response to the racial justice movement in the summer of 2020, Mayor Alan Weber attempted to remove the Obelisk, using a state-contracted construction team, but it was too heavy for the planned construction crew to safely deconstruct.^[9] On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 12, 2020, after a 3-day occupation of the Plaza, Indigenous protesters, many representing the Navajo tribe, toppled the Obelisk in protest of its racist message. Local media reported that the act was decried by other members of the community who viewed the Obelisk as an important symbol of the state’s history.^[10] Toppling the Obelisk required roughly 20 people equipped with chains and ropes attached to pickup trucks. Police were present, but did not intervene during the impromptu removal of the Obelisk, but two people were arrested and charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest. After the Obelisk was toppled by the protesters, the city surrounded the area with fences and construction tape to prevent it from being an ongoing site for vandalism. On June 2, 2021, Santa Fe’s Arts Commission unanimously passed Resolution 2021-6 recognizing “an urgent call to action by residents, diverse stakeholders, and the Governing Body to discuss the City’s cultural histories and current viewpoints to seek solutions for a future of peace, tolerance, racial equity, social justice, healing, and reconciliation.”^[11] A sign was placed in front of the site describing Santa Fe’s intent to decide the Obelisk’s future together, as a community.

In August 2021, Santa Fe launched a process to engage in community discussions about culture, history, art, reconciliation, and truth (the CHART project).^[12] Through nearly three years of ongoing conversations, no final decision has been made regarding the Obelisk’s future. However, many community concerns have surfaced through the ongoing dialogue. Importantly, what at first seemed to be people with clearly defined views about the Obelisk, turned into a complex and dynamic community negotiation.

In November 2024, the pedestal of the Obelisk remained covered by a wooden box (which the community views as an eyesore) that serves as a reminder that this matter remains unresolved. Dialogue is not always something that happens fast, especially when it is mixed with a thorough examination of the history, truth, and reconciliation. It takes time to create inclusive communities. Expenses are involved; the city estimates it spent about $250,000 on the CHART project, something that was somewhat controversial.^[13]

While litigation continued, Santa Fe has not stopped generating options in response to the Obelisk conflict. It has proposed moving the Obelisk to a museum or the Santa Fe National Cemetery, where this narrative might be properly contextualized – with community input^[14] – and not replacing it with another monument. In December 2024, a judge ordered the City of Santa Fe to remove the wooden covering at the Soldiers’ Monument and either restore the obelisk to its pre-2020 condition within 180 days or initiate a formal review process under the guidelines for historic preservation. Since then, the city allocated $100,000 to assess the Obelisk’s condition, stored at the regional airport, and propose options for a permanent resolution to the conflict.^[15] The city has noted that the resolution must align with the court’s order and processes for the preservation of historic monuments. The outcome remains unresolved, as Santa Fe works to balance legal obligations, structural realities, and deep community divisions over the monument’s future.