Chief Taghkanic’s Last Stand
What if there was a way to save this icon without making people angry?
Word got out last week that the stellar and iconic neon sign atop the vestibule of the West Taghkanic Diner would soon go dark and come down. The news sparked some controversy as these developments usually do. However, for the first time that I can recall after following and reporting on the American roadside, the landscape wouldn’t lose the sign because of a name change or the owner’s inability to restore it from a damaged or decayed state. This time, the sign would surrender to politics.
According to an article in HudsonValley360.com, the owners posted a letter on the diner’s front door explaining their decision to end the use of the sign, and that “the decision is based on not using people as parodies.”
It further reads, “We feel it’s time to reconsider our use of the image. We know that people are not caricatures and don’t want to use people’s images without their input or consent.”
When Burt Coons set up this diner in 1953, he called this and the three others he later established at successive exits going north the Chief Taghkanic Diner. After Coons passed on, the family sold off each diner to new owners who gave them new names and/or moved them off the parkway. All four of the diners had a version of this sign, but only the West Taghkanic’s remains intact and after a recent restoration, pristine.
Let’s start by stating the obvious: The owners can do whatever they want with their property. If they or subsequent ownership group decided to change the name, we might expect them to replace the sign. I know that the preservation community would still raise an outcry, but yet… (heavy sigh) somehow this feels worse.
The article continued with quotes from customers, starting with the objections. The “why fix it if it’s not broken” trope popped up of course, but the author betrayed his bias by ending with supporting comments. A customer identified as Alfred struck a tone of resignation.
“Times change, and people change, as society evolves. We have to evolve as people. Things that were acceptable 30 or 40 years ago aren’t acceptable now.”
The trouble with this assertion is that evolution is a natural, gradual process. It happens because environmental conditions spur tiny changes in our DNA. We emerged from the swamp because a genetic mutation gave us the ability to breathe gaseous oxygen. We survived on land because doing so proved advantageous to the species.
So, no, this isn’t evolution.
The other three signs ultimately succumbed to economic forces. The name changed with new owners or the cost of maintenance exceeded the business’s ability to pay. Neon signs are spectacular and cost relatively little to illuminate, but their delicate construction requires expensive specialized skills to maintain.
Politics — ruining everything since forever
This neon Indian will take a bow as a result of political forces, not economic, and experience taught me that politics often ruins everything. They make people angry. Put three people in a room, and it creates politics. Imposing one’s values, political, religious, or otherwise results in unintended consequences which settle nothing and can turn bloody.
The article credits the influence of a group called The Forge Project formed in 2021. I won’t provide a link here, because to access the full site, they’ve set up a clever gateway requiring the visitor acknowledge their personal culpability in events that took place 300 years ago. Personally, I reject the entire concept of original sin, so I cannot endorse that message at all.
…where within 10,000 years of civilization do they establish the starting line? Because from the moment homo erectus picked up a club, the colonization of every square inch of arable land on this planet began. How far back will they go to ferret out who they deem culpable? How wide does The Forge Project cast this net?
The site’s content is reflective of the tumult of the past five years — photos of young people with bullhorns and banners, demanding justice. The Forge Project promulgates an otherwise noble mission to keep Mohican history and culture alive, although it also employs provocative rhetoric to “upend political and social systems formed through generations of settler colonialism.”
As a descendant of peoples who faced mass extermination and enslavement during Julius Caesar’s invasion of Gaul, I have some sympathy for their cause, but where within 10,000 years of civilization do they establish the starting line? Because from the moment homo erectus picked up a club, so began the colonization of every square inch of arable land on this planet. How far back will they go to ferret out who they deem culpable? How wide does The Forge Project cast this net?
I learned quite a bit about the Mohican researching this story. The Mohican tribe supported the colonists during the Revolutionary War, fighting not only against the British, but against their Mohawk allies as well. New York State later rewarded their loyalty with eviction from their Hudson Valley tribal lands.
American History 101 taught little about the atrocities North American tribes committed against each other. While I’ve yet to find any detailed accounts of violence initiated by the Mohicans, it is fact that some tribes enslaved their enemies and engaged in the indiscriminate slaughter of women and children of whites and natives. In the middle fourteenth century for example, the Crow Creek Massacre resulted in the scalping and slaughter of 500 people. Meanwhile, south of the Rio Grande, the Aztecs engaged in a level of ritualistic bloodletting that made Spanish Conquistadors look like Red Cross workers.
The point being, humanity’s past walks knee-deep in blood, and no group on any continent escaped oppression. What happens when someone presents The Forge Project with evidence of atrocities committed by Mohicans against the Mohawk? Will they acknowledge that?
Save the sign, salvage an opportunity
Though breathtaking, its depiction of a chief in a Plains Indian headdress misrepresents eastern tribes. I think most of us know that. The sign exists because at the time of the diner’s installation, the Hollywood western packed theaters while at home, children played cowboys and Indians. Restaurants around the country, especially those targeting families, knew that appealing to children helped business, and kids gravitated toward this imagery.
As someone who has advocated for a cause or two, I have intimate experience with the futility of making points with outrage, and thankfully, the owners seek consensus. But why now? Who is harmed by this? Why do something designed to incite anger? When one takes a stand on something, they make as many enemies as friends. Previous owners of the diner told me that the locals of Mohican descent, who ate there on a regular basis, loved the sign. Is that not consent?
The letter goes on:
Forge proposed having an Indigenous artist decide what to do with the sign, and the Mohican cultural staff agreed, so we are moving in that direction. We also want to ensure we do not erase Indigenous history here by removing this image, so we will continue to work with Indigenous People on how they want to represent in this space for the future.
This presents an opportunity. The existing sign can still serve not only as a welcoming beacon, but as a point of discussion with the customers and community. Some won’t care, but grace allows them that choice. The story of the Mohican people deserves telling, but taking down the sign entirely takes away a teachable moment.
The letter implies that we might see a new sign more appropriate to The Forge’s ethos. Okay, but this takes me back to what I previously wrote, that the preservation movement exists due to repeated failures replacing the things we lost with something better. In a perfect world, the diner gets a brand new, equally glorious neon sign with a more accurate depiction of a Mohican chief. I’d wear a T-shirt with with that design!
I hope for a happy ending, but I also hope the owners keep their priorities straight. They operate a spectacular example of a true American diner. Keeping it viable for years to come requires laser-like focus on making customers happy with good food, fair prices, and excellent service. Fail to do that, no one will give a damn what’s on that sign.
I reached out to the diner’s owners, past and present, but received no response from anyone by deadline. It is my hope that this starts a constructive conversation. Let’s start one in the comments.