But all of this changed in an instant
John E. Echohawk, Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, on Bears Ears and Trump.
A year ago, the Obama administration took the extraordinary and long-awaited step to designate Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Bears Ears has been home to Native peoples since time immemorial, and we cherish it for its cultural, spiritual, and archaeological importance.
Indigenous people have been caring for Bears Ears for countless generations, but formal protections under American law for the entirety of the area were made permanent only with the creation of Bears Ears National Monument. Five tribes (Hopi, Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Zuni) worked with the U.S. Government to protect our sacred ancestral lands at Bears Ears, and it was an example of our government-to-government relationship in action. Last year’s announcement brought some closure, as well as a powerful sense of justice after decades-long goals had finally been met.
Notice that Trump doesn’t even mention that. He complains of far-away bureaucrats in Washington but says not a word about nearby tribes in Utah who worked to get the National Monument protection for their lands.
But all of this changed in an instant.
Today, President Trump made history by undoing all of this, walking back the progress that had been made with the federal government. Never before has a U.S. president tried to reduce a national monument to such a degree for so little reason.
President Trump does not have the authority to take the action he took today. Under the Antiquities Act, the president may create national monuments. That is all. He or she may not modify or revoke existing monuments — only Congress has that ability. Trump’s actions are illegal, unwarranted, and deeply unpopular. And they are a blatant attack on tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
Until the designation of Bears Ears, our sacred lands were under constant threat. Those unfamiliar with our cultures and our traditions contributed to the steady destruction of our sacred sites by looting, grave robbing, and indiscriminately drilling for oil and mining uranium at the expense of our heritage.
In a remarkable display of tribal unity, the five tribes joined together to protect Bears Ears National Monument. These five tribes worked tirelessly with the previous administration to voice our concerns, and to offer a detailed plan for preserving Bears Ears. These efforts led to planned visits by the administration, numerous consultations with Native community members, tribal and local governments, and businesses. While the tribes did not get everything they desired, the national monument designation (and protection) was a major and long-awaited victory. Trump’s executive order today dishonors the agreement reached between tribes and the federal government.
Did Zinke even talk to them?
In the hollow and politically-motivated national monuments review, spearheaded by the Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the Trump administration failed to meaningfully consult tribal governments, despite claims to the contrary. In the lead up to Secretary Zinke’s visit to Utah this spring, tribes offered to meet with the Secretary, government-to-government. The hastily arranged hour-long meeting that was finally taken was an insult, and it confirmed the tribes’ doubts of the administration’s sincerity.
An hour. Wow, that is an insult. It’s almost worse than just a plain no.
They’ll see him in court. I hope they win.
Holy crap, the disrespect.
“…it confirmed the tribes’ doubts of the administration’s sincerity.”
Oh, no doubt at all, this administration is sincere. Just not in a good way.
Here’s an interesting take on Trump’s decision: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2017/12/trump-shrunk-utah-monuments-based-mormon-propaganda-racism/
His announcement came hot on the heels of a closed-door meeting with Mormon hierarchy, the very same Mormons who continuously blocked attempts to have the land protected until the Native Americans appealed to the federal government. Obama approved their request.
Of course, for Trump this has nothing to do with religion, but an appeal to his racism, another chance to undo Obama’s legacy, and the chance to exploit the land for profit was a combination he wasldn’t resist.