CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Indigenous People's Day is a day to celebrate and honor native American culture and history.
Larry Running Turtle Salazar is working to pass down the Native American culture and history to the next generations here in South Texas.
“We will never give up. As long as more native people are being educated there will be more of me as there was when I was a child and continue passing down these traditions," Salazar said.
As part of continuing to share the history and culture Salazar said they have been trying to raise money for a monument since 1994.
According to Salazar, Native Americans in south Texas are the forgotten people and the only thing in tribute to native Americans here in Corpus Christi are names of streets.
“Corpus Christi has the second largest Indian burial ground in the state of Texas,” Salazar said.
Furthermore, Salazar explains how over time communities have overlooked their culture.
“Texas is a big piece of land for us to be the second largest burial ground and they've desegrated all of our burial sites. They pulled them out and taken them to universities to study the bones and artifacts, and we always tell people talk to us we're still alive,” Salazar said.
The monument will be located on Ennis Joslin.
Salazar said the monument would show how sacred the land is too Native Americans here in the Coastal Bend.
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