Vol VI No. 696 Part 1g

Fwd: Bears Ears- Healing, Rejuvenation, and Spring

Tony Castanha

Thu, Mar 29, 2018 at 6:10 PM

To: papbullslist-l@lists.hawaii.edu

*fyi

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Utah Diné Bikéyah <Info@utahdinebikeyah.org>
Date: Thu, Mar 29, 2018 at 2:39 PM
Subject: Bears Ears- Healing, Rejuvenation, and Spring

Hello Bears Ears Supporter --

While Native people run in prayer through our ancestral landscapes, we open ourselves to the moments Mother Earth heals and teaches us.

The winter snows have started to melt into spring streams here in the Bears Ears region. The plants and animals are drinking deep to quench their winter thirst. The water heals and rejuvenates them from months of hibernation.

With the arrival of the spring equinox, we need to remember our connection and relationship to Mother Earth, especially in this time of change, where will be healed and rejuvenated.

Kids, Community and Tribes Speak for
Bears Ears

At the public scoping meetings held earlier this week, Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB) board members and Bears Ears supporters came out in droves asking for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to restore the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) to its original 1.35 million acre size.

The federal agencies hosted management planning meetings for the Shash Jaa’ and Indian Creek Units, which consist of only 15% of the original BENM. UDB encourages Bears Ears supporters to continue submitting comments to the BLM/USFS by April 11^th.

“We oppose what they’re doing today […]the monument was already established way before they took action by the Creator,” said Jonah Yellowman, a UDB Board member and spiritual advisor. “The confluence of the Colorado and San Juan Rivers (female and male rivers) is where offerings, rituals, and ceremonies were created and to ignore these natural boundaries is basically undoing the work of the Creator.”

In his public comments, Yellowman made sure that the BLM and USFS were made aware that these natural boundaries are exactly what guided UDB and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to advocate for the successful designation of the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument.

In spite of the BLM’s effort to ignore tribal voices, Mark Maryboy, a UDB Board member, still thinks that the courts will overturn Trump’s proclamation, which shrinks BENM by 85 percent: “This scoping process needs to be held off until ongoing litigation has taken it course. It’s ridiculous to go through this process way before the outcome of the litigation.”

Submit Public Comments for “Shash Jaa” & “Indian Creek”

If you missed the opportunity to submit public comments at the BLM and USFS scoping meetings, Utah Diné Bikéyah encourages you to submit public comments online.

The deadline is April 11th!

Please support the protection of the entire BENM area, opposing the BLM and USFS scoping meetings at this premature date and encourage the agencies to maintain the importance of Native American uses and access at the forefront. BENM is a national treasure for all Americans, and central to its future management is how it will honor and include Tribes.

This call for action does not mean Utah Diné Bikéyah supports Trump’s designated boundaries of the Indian Creek and Shash Jaa’ units. But if the original BENM boundaries are not restored by the courts through litigation, it will be important that tribes are involved in the land management planning process to ensure protection of the remaining units.

Click Here to Submit Comment

Rep. Gallego visits Bears Ears, feels the connection to protect

Since visiting the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument earlier this month, Rep. Rueben Gallego (D-AZ-7) says he has a much closer connection to the ancestral lands of the Hopi, Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni people.

The Congressman is the sponsor of H.R. 4518, a bill that will protect Bears Ears National Monument by restoring the Tribes' original 1.35 million acre monument.

“The whole goal of me being out here is bringing attention to the Bears Ears National Monument and be able to push back on Curtis’ bill and the President’s actions. I think that a lot of people will naturally gravitate to the side of the five tribes that have historical, cultural and religious claims to this area. But to actually see it for myself, hear about it, and actually feel what some of these members have been feeling, is really important to me,” Gallego said.

“To tell these tribal members that we are not going to protect 85 percent of your background, 85 percent of your family members, 85 percent of your heritage, we would never accept that for any other culture. But, somehow, we think it’s okay to accept that for Native American Tribes,”

For more information on Gallego’s bill, click here.

Prayer Runs = Healing

Heavy breaths whispered through Bears Ears, as prayer runners completed their week-long relay from the East, South, West and North directions. On their final leg to Bears Ears, the prayer runners ran along Comb Ridge before descending among the Cottonwoods at Comb Wash, the site of last year’s Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Summer Gathering. Under the canopies of the Cottonwoods, the prayer runners formed a circle, where many of them testified about how their collective journeys of 785.7 miles became a source of healing.

Runners like Dustin Martin, who organized the prayer run, said that Native youth also logged approximately 1,115.9 miles, an impressive feat.

“We’re going to continue to go forward and meet and continue to help our elders,” Martin said, before adding, “Our leaders, please continue to represent why this is important to us all. We’re going to go home and tell our young people why they need to continue fighting for what’s sacred.”

“It was very emotional, very exhausting and I think many of the runners felt the spirt of what they were carrying. It became challenging,” said Ute Mountain Ute tribal member Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk after running 11 miles in a jingle dress. “I told the runners that these were the same feelings that the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition felt when creating the designation of Bears Ears National Monument.”

Oral history, narratives tell tribal connection to Bears Ears

Along with the prayer runners, storytellers from the Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, Navajo, Ute, and Zuni peoples told a steady crowd of 100 attendees that their respective connections to Bears Ears is evidenced by their foot prints.

Attendees were treated to the Zuni Creation Narrative by Curtis Quam, famous Ute flute player Aldean Ketchum, who shared Bear Dance songs, and Marlon Magdalena, of Jemez Pueblo shared Pueblo connections to Bears Ears. Navajo storyteller and UBD Board Member Jonah Yellowman shared the Navajo perspective.

Healing Dialog in Costa Rica

The Global Peace Initiative of Women partnered with Earth Charter International to extend this honorable invitation to Cynthia Wilson. She, along with 20 diverse emerging leaders from North America, participated in a five-day retreat with spiritual mentors from around the world.

“I was empowered by the collective energy brought forth in the group discussions about seeking humanity, unity, and building resiliency from our inner strength.” -Cynthia Wilson UDB's Traditional Foods Program Director

Cynthia represented UDB in a conversation of what it means to cultivate the inner awareness necessary to restore a relationship to the natural world and to explore the deeper dimensions of the climate crisis from a spiritual point of view.

Through this healing and restorative dialog, Cynthia shared the importance of land stewardship practices as a Diné woman. This is a way of life based on kinship and built on the values of humility, gratitude, and beauty of the Earth.

Ashley Ellis (pictured standing left in the picture below) is the New York Director of Restorative Justice. She is on a mission to heal and transform the lives of young people. She shared the following song that resonated deeply with those in attendance.

"I know where my voice belongs

I am an endangered species

But I sing no victim songs

I am a warrior

I am a healer"

Community Responds to Oil and Gas Leasing

On March 20^th, Native American community members, Utah Diné Bikéyah, and community partner Utah Chapter Sierra Club gathered in front of the Bureau of Land Management State Offices. There, they spoke out against the Trump Administration’s handling of public lands in Utah. Specifically, community members spoke against the administration’s decision to lease parcels adjacent to Utah’s Bears Ears, Hovenweep, and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments for oil and gas development. They also questioned the administration’s decision to move forward on land use planning for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase National Monuments while litigation is ongoing.

Groups encouraged the Trump Administration to choose a path of healing; one that recognizes the impacts these decisions have on the Native Community and honors this by including Tribes in the planning process. Through this engagement, we can promote healing not only for Native people, but all Americans.

The public can submit comments on the scoping of the land use planning process before April 11th to the BLM and USFS at the UDB website HERE.

“These landscapes hold thousands of years of invaluable cultural heritage that have already endured decades of looting and grave robbing. The leasing of land for oil, gas, and hard rock mining near these sites represents the next step in erasing this history for financial gain. As a member of the outdoor industry, I stand behind the tribes of the intertribal coalition in protecting these areas,” - Len Necefer, Navajo Community Member and Founder of Natives Outdoors

“The sale of these leases is a wake-up call for action among the American public. It is too late to submit public comments opposing this oil and gas auction on BLM lands adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument, but it is not too late to submit comments during the scoping period for Shash Jaa and Indian Creek. We need everyone to get involved and ask that our American heritage and Native American sovereignty is respected and wait for the courts to determine the outcome of the litigation,” - Alastair Lee Bitsoi, Communications Coordinator UDB

Bears Ears Media Round Up

First National Monument Scoping Meeting In Utah Puts Stark Divisions On Display
By Chris D’Angelo - 03/27

Taking a stand for the land: After Chaco-area oil, gas sale is canceled, conservation fight must go on
By Edward Paul Torres / Chairman, All Pueblo Council of Governors - 3/18

County ordered to hold elections using new districts
By Cindy Yurth - 3/16

Commentary: When Americans look at a map of the US, they see natural wonders. When Trump looks, he sees unrealized industry profits.
By Raúl M. Grijalva - 3/17

Tribes Come Together For Fight To Bring Back Protections For Bears Ears National Monument
By Chris D’Angelo - 3/19

DOI Emails on Bears Ears Prove Trump Ignored Natives
By Jake Bullinger - 3/19

Feds sell leases on archaeologically rich southern Utah lands for oil and gas
By Brian Maffly - 3/22

At Bears Ears, Trump and Zinke ignored everyone but industry
By Jonathan Thompson - 3/13

BEARS EARS PRAYER RUN ALLIANCE IS ON THE MOVE
By Native News Online Staff - 3/16

Utah Diné Bikéyah encourages you to take off your socks and shoes then put your bare feet in the cold soil. Let the land heal and rejuvenate you while the Earth is transforming. Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you - Askwali - Ahéhee’ - Tog’oiak’ - Kwakwhay - Elahkwa,
Utah Diné Bikéyah