Angelo Baca (Diné and Hopi) laced up his running shoes and took off down a trail near his hometown of Blanding, Utah. Angelo’s family and ancestors have known and lived in the region since time immemorial. To them, the lands known to so many Americans as “public” are their ancestral territory, their homelands. Angelo stayed present as he ran, calculating each step to avoid a twisted ankle. He wound down a desert wash, weaving a path through sagebrush, piñon and juniper.
But unlike so many people who trail run on public lands, Angelo wasn’t alone: he was being followed. His outspoken leadership on issues related to Indigenous rights and Tribal sovereignty on his ancestral territory — and specifically his advocacy related to the Bears Ears region — had made him a target...