San Juan County's largest Navajo chapter formally opposes Bears Ears Monument

Named after a pair of mesas which dominate the high desert landscape, Bears Ears is arid, and rich in minerals and fossil fuels, but most importantly, it is the land in which local Native American tribes have hunted, gathered wood, pine nuts, and lived a traditional lifestyle for centuries. It is also the location of countless Native cemeteries, some of which are of archeological interest, others as yet undisturbed, but all of which are profoundly sacred.

by Marjorie Haun

The Bears Ears is a region of southeastern Utah covering millions of acres, consisting mostly of sagebrush, sandstone, and sprinkled with a few spectacular mesas and archaeological areas. Named after a pair of mesas which dominate the high desert landscape, Bears Ears is arid, and rich in minerals and fossil fuels, but most importantly, it is the land in which local Native American tribes have hunted, gathered wood, pine nuts, and lived a traditional lifestyle for centuries. It is also the location of countless Native cemeteries, some of which are of archeological interest, others as yet undisturbed, but all of which are profoundly sacred. And to the descendants of the people who inhabit those graves, turning the area into an outdoor tourism mecca would be an obscene travesty. But that’s exactly what President Obama intended to do when he unilaterally designated 1.35 million acres in that corner of Utah as the Bears Ears National Monument.

The Bears Ears story is not unique in the sense that Obama’s Interior Department and crony environmentalist special interest groups conspired to use Native Americans as a front to push a big government, globalist agenda. When a group of white environmentalists devised the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition in order to put a Native American face on a massive federal land grab, the tribal chapters–save for a handful of individuals–who actually live in San Juan County vehemently opposed the plan. The same players; radical environmentalists, Obama, the bleeding heart Hollywood elite, did the same thing with the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, by using Native Americans as the sympathetic face of a progressive, anti-prosperity power grab.

Following Obama’s pronouncement on Decmber 28–while on Christmas vacation in Hawaii–that he was turning the native home of generations of Navajos, Utes and other tribes, into a federally-controlled, 1.35 million acre tourist attraction, the largest Navajo Chapter in Utah, whose members live in the Bears Ears region, made their opposition to the designation formal. The Aneth Chapter Resolution opposing Bears Ears National Monument reads:

WHEREAS:

Pursuant to Navajo Tribal Council Resolution no. CMY-23-79, the Aneth Chapter is duly certified and recognized as an official local unit of the Navajo Nation government with all duties, responsibilities, and authorities conferred according to 26 N.C.C. § 1 et seq. and has the power and authority to enact plans and development goals that are in the best interest of the community and recommend, support, and approve community related projects); and
Legislation 432-16 was initiated and executed without official consultation, meaningful participation and support of the Aneth people and Blue Mountain Dine; and
Legislation 432-16 was created unilaterally by Aneth Council Delegate and Naabik’iyati’ Committee of the Navajo Nation Council solely to serve their interests and the interests of the Bears Intertribal coalition; and
The legislation sponsored by delegates Davis Filfred and Walter Phelps of Leupp, Arizona was passed January 5, 2017; and
Legislation 432-16 totally deprived the rights and freedom of Aneth and the Blue Mountain Dine to express their thoughts, opinions and to take action on the dangers and harmful effects of the people’s livelihood, resources and prosperity of their communities through the recent Bears Ears National monument designation; and
The legislation is disdainful of the grassroots people of San Juan County citizens.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The Aneth Chapter voting membership requests President-Elect Donald Trump to reverse the designation of the Bears Ears National Monument for its undemocratic and unjust process.
The Aneth Chapter further requests that no more National Monument designations be established in the State of Utah.

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that this foregoing resolution was duly considered by the Aneth Chapter Membership at a duly called meeting at which a quorum was present that the same was passed with a vote of 26 in favor, 5 opposed and 0 abstained this 8th day of January 2017.

Darrell Williams, President

ANETH CHAPTER

Motioned by: Harrison Johnson

Seconded by: Joe Ben

As Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visits Utah and considers a full or partial rescinding of the Bears Ears National monument, big outdoor recreation corporations and the environmentalist Left have ramped up their campaigns supporting complete federal control of this huge portion of southeast Utah. Those commercial and ideological interests salivating over the potential gain of power and money and from yet another outdoor tourist attraction have been especially noisy. But the locals of San Juan County are fighting back, and local Utes, and the Blue Mountain Dine and Aneth Navajo tribal chapters, are taking the lead. They know the cost of turning sacred lands federal tourist attractions, and they are fighting that outcome with everything they have.