Former Gallup mayor Emmett Garcia, who was abducted in 1973 by two Navajo University of New Mexico students, Larry Casuse and Robert Nakaidene, in a notorious and high profile incident, will speak to the Dale Mason’s Native American Studies class at UNM-Gallup, on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 12:30 p.m. in room 248A in Calvin Hall.
Garcia’s abduction took place in a time of intense Native American activism.
Casuse and Nakaidene allegedly staged the abduction as a protest against Garcia’s support of the Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial and a saloon in Tse Bonito owned by Garcia.
The men, members of the UNM KIVA Club, a Native American organization, took Garcia to a local sporting goods store. Garcia was freed, and then a shootout ensued between Casuse and Nakaidene and local law enforcement officers at the store. Nakaidene surrendered, but Casuse was killed.
A firestorm of controversy broke out regarding culpability in Casuse’s death
as well as the men’s motives. Garcia, who was defeated for re-election after the shooting, has recently stepped forward and announced that he wishes to tell his version of the events of that day.