“The pioneers no more discovered the great basin than Columbus discovered America. …From the day the 1847 pioneers first put their plows in the ground, "settlement" for them would mean displacement for Indians. ...I think telling the rest of the story requires one to acknowledge that Indians made sincere and often heroic efforts to absorb the tide of Mormon emigrants and to peacefully and even symbiotically co-exist with them. …Regardless of how one views the equities of Indian-Mormon relations in those times, the end result was that the land and cultural birthright Indians once possessed in the Great Basin were taken from them. …What we can do? The least we can do from a distance of 160 years, is to acknowledge and appreciate the monumental loss this represents on the…
Mauli Bonner – Monument Coordinator for Black Pioneer Monument "The monument and the day’s celebration provided 'a moment to just be family'. At the end of it all, we’re talking about difficult things — enslavement with other pioneers‚ that’s hard and it’s heavy. But at the end of the day, we’re all family … we’re still family and children of God.” Please enjoy "Child of God" featuring the Bonner Family
“Thank you, choir, for singing “Faith in Every Footstep.” The music and words of that song were written in 1996 by Brother Newell Dayley in preparation for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the early pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Although this song was written in preparation for that celebration, its message applies to the whole world. I have always loved the chorus: With faith in ev’ry footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord; And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord. Brothers and sisters, I testify that as we follow Jesus Christ with footsteps of faith, there is hope. There is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is hope for all in this life. …Our Savior, Jesus…
“It’s more beautiful than I could have imagined- not just the statues but you all being here today. It’s beautiful.” …We don’t tell these stories of African enslavement to cause guilt or pain or shame. We tell the stories because they’re true. … Because we all have the opportunity to draw strength from them. Can we not draw strength from them? …This monument tells part of our story… to remember those 10 years of enslavement. It’s a hard part of our history… We have to learn it and never forget it and then what do we do with that knowledge? We teach our children. We allow them to come up in a world where they’re not gonna to be blindsided by history. They’ll be able to be taught it at a young age…
“The building of this intermountain empire was not done in a corner by a select few but by this vast multitude flowing in from many nations, who came and labored and wrought, faithfully following... We stand upon our own feet in our own shoes. There is no aristocracy of birth in this Church; it belongs equally to the highest and the lowliest; for as Peter said to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, seeking him: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: “But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35).”
Dedicatory prayer of the Church’s monuments to free and enslaved, member and non-member Black pioneers: “...We’re honored to be able to dedicate this memorial and these wonderful features that have now been added to declare to all who visit how precious and important every child of God is unto Thee... We are grateful for the Black pioneers and our dear friends of the Black community and in the Church and all that they do to bless the lives of others. Protect these wonderful representations [that] remind us of who we are and what blessings we enjoy because of those pioneers,”
“The predecessors of many Americans of different backgrounds made great sacrifices to establish this nation. Whatever those sacrifices—of freedom, property, or even life—let us now honor them for what they have done for us...”
