Places like Bears Ears National Monument are more than just stores of resources or recreation grounds. They are living landscapes, whose cliff dwellings, rock art panels, springs, canyons, mesas, and pathways are inextricably tied to the Native peoples and cultures who still call them home. They are ancestral lands first, and public lands second.
Bears Ears was established as a national monument at the request of Native American tribes. Its original proclamation recognized Indigenous peoples' knowledge of land stewardship as a resource to be protected, as well as a tool to be used in the day-to-day management of Bears Ears.
This should be the rule, not the exception, and in addition to defending and restoring Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, we’re standing behind Indigenous communities and Native nations as they reclaim the authority to manage their ancestral lands.
You can’t put a half-acre radius of protection around a cliff dwelling and call it good.
Cultural landscapes include more than isolated archaeological sites. A cliff dwelling, for example, may be connected to a nearby spring or ancient pilgrimage route. While traditional uses vary by tribe, Indigenous people today rely on these lands for food, medicines, ceremonies, and perpetuation of their cultures.
Our religion and our traditional customs and values begin at birth. Every day we walk a prayer. It's not just practicing it. It's lived from the day you come into this world. It's lived from the moment you wake up.”
— Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, former co-chair, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Respect, reciprocity, and reverence are central to Native people’s worldviews and guide relationships between humans and the living world. Their traditional knowledge is long grounded in the experience of mutual flourishing of species — a philosophy and practice that stands to teach the rest of us how to care for the natural world.
The environmental movement has long excluded Native communities, recognizing the value of the land without the people that are part of it. Our first step as conservationists, hikers, campers, sportsmen and women, and others is to acknowledge the historical injustices inherent in public lands and work to build up Indigenous communities.
To address inequalities that persist today, Indigenous communities must have space to reclaim power. We need to do a better job of genuinely listening, authentically engaging Native people in land management decisions, and stepping back to honor cultural perspectives and traditional knowledge.
Once you find out that you have made a mistake, there should be a time that you take to figure out how to resolve the issue. Unless that issue is resolved, that's going to be a wound that's going to be taken into the future."
—Peter Pino, tribal council member of the Pueblo of Zia, Native America Calling
U.S. colonial history isn’t the rosy story taught in public schools. Read Native writers, challenge your assumptions, and act to amplify voices that have been silenced.
Remember that all public lands are ancestral lands. Be respectful of cultural resources, connections, and traditions. Tread lightly when visiting cultural landscapes.
Care about Bears Ears and other public lands? One of the best ways to help protect cultural landscapes is by standing behind Indigenous people.
"An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States," by Rozanne Dunbar-Ortiz (read the review)
Changing The Narrative About Native Americans: A Guide For Allies
White Allies, Let's Be Honest About Decolonization
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