David Yeagley, a controversial conservative American Indian, spoke to a group of students, faculty and staff at UNM's School of Law last night.
He was met with a less than friendly response.
At one point during his presentation, several American Indians in the audience dawned false glasses, complete with bushy eyebrows and big noses.
Those who dawned the false glasses were some of the first to voice objections to Yeagley about his viewpoints during a question and answer session after the presentation. Those objections were mostly aimed at Yeagley for speaking for American Indians as a whole when he admittedly never grew up on a reservation.
However, other American Indians voiced their disapproval of the objector's actions during the speech.
Yeagley, who is best known for his conservative stance on patriotism and gun control perspective toward racial issues, spoke about stereotypes American Indians face in the United States today.
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The speech, "Warriors, Weapons and Christians: Can a Christian pull the trigger," was sponsored by the UNM School of Law's Student Chapter of the Federalist Society, in conjunction with Young America's Foundation.
"The name of the speech is meant to show the discrepancies between the values that Christianity promote and their violent history, especially toward Indians," Yeagley said.
In his lecture, Yeagley referred to the Congressional Act of 1619 that mandated every Christian to carry a gun to church in the event of a surprise Indian attack during the service.
"The irony is obvious," Yeagley said. "In one hand they had a weapon and in the other they held a bible. The atrocities committed by the white man since the day of Columbus must be brought to light and learned from."
Yeagley additionally pointed out what he believes are the three most prevalent stereotypes American Indians face today.
The first is the Indian as a guide, where they adopt a superior host mentality. Next was Indians as warriors accompanied by the notable bad tempers that come with such generalizations. The final stereotype is that of the post-reservation Indian, accompanied by the drunken, diabetic visuals that mass media reinforce.
Yeagley is a member of the Comanche Nation and is a columnist for Front Page Magazine, the Internet newspaper run by conservative David Horowitz.
Yeagley is an advocate for conservative ideas, and promotes values such as patriotism and the right to bear arms by citizens in his articles and speeches.
"Someone who has never fought or doesn't know what it means to fight, or even if they value anything enough to fight for it, will of course favor gun control," Yeagley said. "Disarming an entire people is an open invitation for disaster."
Yeagley cited acts of genocide committed by the Nazi and Stalin regimes that occurred after an entire people were rendered defenseless after giving up their ability to defend themselves.
Yeagley also believes that American Indian warrior mascots and monikers are a positive entity and, when understood, are important in American society.
"There is an unspoken warrior code of honor that exists between all Indians," Yeagley said. "The fact that these strong, proud images are used is a testament to the perseverance of an entire people."
Yeagley went on to say that he believes every American Indian in this country should show gratitude, but not respect, to white people because their ancestors spared the lives of American Indians when they could have been annihilated.
"No matter how irreparable the white man's acts towards Indians were, the fact that we are still here was an act of mercy, and for that we should be thankful."
But, Yeagley said, American Indians should limit their thankfulness toward whites.
"We must not forget our history though," he said. "The only justice for Native Americans is for every non-Indian to leave this country, anything less is beggary."
He added that he firmly believes that every American Indian should become emphatically pro-white - for the time being.
"We need to be pro-white, because that's the best move on the chessboard of life that we can make at this time," Yeagley said. "My biggest fear is that one day I will wake up and whites will no longer be in charge of this country, and another less gracious race will be in control."
For the last five years, Dr. Yeagley taught Humanities and Psychology at Oklahoma Sate University. In August of 2000, he presented a formal proposal for teaching patriotism in public schools to the Oklahoma State Legislature.
Yeagley was fired from Oklahoma State University in May 2001 as a result of his conservative views, and in September 2001 began teaching for the University of Oklahoma's College of Liberal Arts. He has appeared on several radio stations across the country and makes public speaking appearances at colleges, clubs and churches.
He has a Bachelor of Arts from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a Master of Divinity from Yale University, a Master of Arts from Emory University and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona.
He was also a special student, doctoral level, in American Studies at Harvard University.
"My favorite dream is that one day every white man will be gone, and the rightful order in this country will once again be restored," Yeagley said. "That is not going to happen, so we must listen to them and their plans for the future, because they have an impact on ours."
