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Kiana Etsate-Gashytewa

ENG 205

Persuasive Essay

April 9, 2018

The Fight to Protect Bears Ears National Monument

In the red colored sands of the desert located in the Southwest, lies the lands of the

ancient people, the Puebloan. Others know them by the “Anasazi.” If you were one of the ancient

ones traveling to find the middle place, you would come across a landscape that resembles two

bear ears, known by my people as Ansh an Lashokdiwe, Hoon’Naqvut or Bears Ears Buttes. The

beauty of this landscape is astonishing and is accompanied by the history of these lands through

ancient fossils, pottery, petroglyphs and artifacts of the Pueblo Tribes.

Image 1: Bears Ears National Monument, PBS 2017

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My ancestors have inhabited these areas, used the medicinal plants, and created and left

their dwellings for us to find and learn from. The Bears Ears National Monument is a national

monument located in the San Juan County of Southeastern Utah that covered approximately

1,352,849 acres (Image 2). Other Native American Nations, have come through these lands to

inhabit and seek refuge from American and Spanish colonizers. For over 80 years, tribal nations

have fought for the protection of these sacred sights alongside with the archeologists, scientists,

Natural Resources department(s), and various Grass Roots Organizations. The fight began to

protect Bears Ears, to stop vandalism, looting, and protection from the destruction of the land

due to gas and oil extraction. Former President Barack Obama’s designation of the Bears Ears as

a National Monument was justified in his presidential powers to stand with Native American

nations to preserve and protect Bears Ears from mining, looting, and vandalism. The re-

designation of Bears Ears degrades tribal sovereignty and is in all ways, a misuse of executive

power, therefore deeming it unconstitutional.

Image 2: Map of Bears Ears National Monument (2016) from the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
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For the first time in tribal history, a monumental move from 5 distinct Native American

tribes put aside their differences to help protect

Bears Ears. These 5 tribes have historically been

enemies since the beginning of time. The 5 main

tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

consist of the Pueblo of Zuni, Hopi Tribe, Ute

Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, and the Navajo

Nation. In addition to these 5 tribal nations, over

30 other tribes, more specifically pueblo tribes,

have showed support of this coalition to protect

Bears Ears as a National Monument. Through the coalition, along with other grass-roots and

non-profit organizations, they have all come together to protect Bears Ears to receive the

designation of a National Monument.

After an eighty-year battle, on December 28, 2016, President Barack Obama signed

Presidential Proclamation No. 9558 into law, establishing and creating the Bears Ears National

Monument. The 1.35-million-acre land covering Bears Ears National Monument had been

preserved and overseen by the Bears Ears Coalition (Zuni, Hopi, Ute, Navajo) along with

Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of

Agriculture’s United States Forest Service (USFS). Indian Country rejoiced as the Bears Ears

Inter-Tribal Coalition had been victorious in securing the land for future generations to come.

Many tribal elders and leaders heard of this news and began to thank the creator with tears of joy

running down their cheeks.

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Though the supporters celebrated the winds of change were in the air due to Utah citizens

and lawmakers disagreeing with the designation and current political climate. During the 2016

election, it had been evident that the Republican party, more specifically then presidential

nominee Donald J. Trump, didn’t agree with the designation. Although the Presidential

Proclamation had been signed, President Elect Trump used executive power to further the

controversy of Bears Ears National Monument with re-designation.

On April 26, 2017, President Donald J. Trump had signed Executive Order No. 13792 to

review all National Monuments designated as such since 1996. This review was headed by the

Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke. Zinke then visited the newly designated Bears Ears

National Monument for four days, May 7-10, 2017. Upon review, he then advised Trump to

reduce Bears Ears. According to the Huffington Post’s headline, “Trump’s ‘Review’ of Utah

Monument Was Over Before It Started,” wherein the article indicates that the review was for

“show” as the decision was based off favors to Utah lawmakers to claim land and leases for

Natural Resource extraction (D’Angelo). This was move that was predicted by the coalition and

supporters, and yet, another vicious scheme to dismantle the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal coalition.

With Presidential Proclamation No. 9681, President Donald J. Trump then modified

Bears Ears National Monument boundaries to 201,876 acres, is open to mining as of February 2,
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2018, and in designation of the Indian Creek and Shash Jáa units to the U.S. Forest Service,

Shash Jáa and San Juan County Commission.

LAWSUITS

The national monument designation troubled state sovereignty, land rights, and the

extraction industry within Utah. However, with the reduction of Bears Ears National Monument,

the 5 Native American tribes, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), the Natural Resources

Defense Council Incorporated, and Patagonia Inc. have filed lawsuits against President Donald J.

Trump, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and other members of his cabinet. Through all 3 claims,

the lawsuits say the actions done by Trump, pose as a major threat to the environment,

ecosystem, and sacred sites of the Bears Ears Monument reduction. Stated within the

Proclamation provision:

At 9:00 a.m., eastern standard time, on the date that is 60 days after the date of this
proclamation, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing withdrawals, and
the requirements of applicable law, the public and National Forest System lands excluded
from the monument reservation shall be open to:
(1) entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws and
laws applicable to the U.S. Forest Service;
(2) disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and
(3) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.” (Presidential Proclamation No.
9681)
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Image 3: Bears Ears National Monument Map (Circa 2016) Oil and Gas Company Expression of Interest (EOI),
Utah Department of Natural Resources

The mining and extractive industry has posed many violent implications on lands

throughout the United States and the world. The destruction of Bears Ears landscape and artifacts

is irreplaceable along with the impact of non-renewable energy industry that has title to the

undesignated lands. The map of the oil and gas companies who expressed interest within the

monument are seen for the mining of hard rocks and uranium within Indian Creek, having the

most EOI parcels (Pictured above). The constant destruction through mining is not isolated to

these areas as the heavy machinery and equipment will create additional destruction to the areas.
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As of right now, the Bears Ears National Monument is open to mining. So far, the mining

cooperation’s are weary to stake claims due to the controversy and lawsuits.

Also, the claims have been filed as no U.S. President has proclaimed to reverse a

designation of this magnitude and therefore deem it unconstitutional by misuse and lack of

authority to do so. President Obama exercised the authority vested in him under the Antiquities

Act of 1906, to protect Bears Ears as a national monument pursuant to Proclamation No. 9558.

Obama made this decision for the reason of the historic and scientific objects which the

monument contains with the significance to Native American communities and constant threats

of exploitation and damage to those objects. President Obama acknowledged the necessary urge

for protection and preservation.

Because the President's order is unlawful and he therefore cannot properly direct the
agencies to act, in implementing the Trump Proclamation, the Agency Defendants
purport to create law, or purport to amend an existing statute in violation of the limits of
Constitutional authority of the Executive Branch under Article 1, Sections 1 and 7.
(NARF Lawsuit, 2017)

Under the third claim for relief in the NARF complaint, these sections indicate why the re-

designation of Bears Ears National Monument is unconstitutional. Donald Trump has encroached

upon Congress’s power under the Property Clause in Article IV of the Constitution, “The

Antiquities Act only provides that the President may declare national monuments; it does not

delegate or authorize the power to revoke, abolish, diminish, or replace them as has been done

here. 54 U.S.C. § 320301” (211. NARF Lawsuit, 2017). The Presidential Proclamation takes a

stab at these Indigenous nation’s sovereignty as independent nations. This also designates only

the Ute Indian Tribe and the Navajo Nation to manage the lands and renamed Bears Ears to

Shash Jáa’, a Navajo name which creates divisions among the Inter-Tribal coalition. The name

designation makes Sash Jáa’, exclusively Navajo, leaving no interpretation or acknowledgement

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from the Ute, Hopi, and Zuni Nations. The designation of a specific tribe excludes the other

tribes and goes against the fundamentals of creation of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition.

Bears Ears Sketch: Traditional Girls coming together to #ProtectBearsEars..

Left to right: Navajo, Zuni, Ute Tribes, Hopi

PROTECTING SOVERIGNTY

Sovereignty to Independent Indigenous Nations has always been a threat to the colonizers

or “settlers” since contact in 1492, through Spanish contact and colonization. Then repeatedly in

history our sovereignty has been stripped from our tribal nations through United States Supreme

court cases like The Marshall Trilogy, which consists of the cases: Johnson v. McIntosh,

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Worcester v. Georgia. The original Americans were not granted

citizenship until 1924 and given religious freedom rights in 1985. The Marshall Trilogy has been
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the foundation of the treatment of Indigenous nations by the U.S. federal government

establishing a “guardianship” relationship with Tribal nations. In the ruling of Cherokee Nation

v. Georgia, it ruled that tribal nations are “domestic dependent nations,” which is the core of

enacting the limits of tribal sovereignty.

Tribal Nations are taking monumental strides to regain our sovereignty as we articulate

our ideals and voices for our people that were stripped from us years ago by the colonizers

(Spaniards, French, English, etc.).

Bears Ears directly impacts my Zuni and Hopi Tribes in a way that undermines our tribal

sovereignty as independent nations. It has impacted our tribal leaders in ways to preserve the

land for our future generations to learn from the generations of our past, our ancestors. Tribal

leaders express their opinions of the stab at Indigenous sovereignty. As stated by Carleton

Bowekaty, Zuni councilman, “H.R. 4532 undermines and violates the United States’ treaty, trust

and government-to-government relationship with our Tribes. It would create a so-called ‘Tribal

Management Council’ that has nothing to do with true tribal management” (NARF Lawsuit

2017). Navajo Nation Council Delegate Davis Filfred feels, “It is up to sovereign Tribal

governments, not the United States, to select our own representatives to co-manage Bears Ears

and to determine our destinies” (NARF lawsuit 2017).

The political front and ideology are not the perspective of Bears Ears, as many elders and

knowledgeable cultural leader’s discuss the definitions of the religious, cultural and historical

context of these sacred lands. As told by Hopi and Zuni elders, the Puebloans have created their

dwellings from these areas since time immemorial. Hopi and Zuni, who are among the

descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans, maintain traditional knowledge about these places that

is critical to understanding the importance of these sites. 2100 years ago, Ancestral Puebloans
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had established settlements that would serve as their dwellings for many years. Numerous cliff

dwellings and other ancient sites are still found within the national monument such as kivas,

standing structures, pottery, petroglyphs, tools, and other artifacts. From section 84 of the Native

American Rights Lawsuit,

“Kivas [Pictured Right] are

still used in Pueblo ceremonies today.

During ceremonies, “the ritual

emergence of participants from the

kiva into the plaza above represents

the original emergence by Puebloan

groups from the underworld into the

current world.” Id. Thus, maintaining

and preserving the ancestral kivas in

Bears Ears is of utmost importance to

Kiva in Grand Gultch, Bears Ears National Monument
the Hopi and Zuni, as well as other descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans” (NARF 2017).

There are also plants found within the Cedar Mesa, Indian Creek and the Bears Ears region such

as medicinal plants, minerals, and water which are used in ceremonial purposes for many of

these Indigenous tribes

Not only is the reduction significantly alarming, the decision of this case would define

what the executive powers are held through the Antiquities Act of 1906. The controversial

designation and reduction has many wondering what will become of the designated monument(s)

of the past, present, and future. Striving to preserve the ancestral lands of the ancestral people is

a fight that will continue until won. Our tribal governments remain as a stronger united front to
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see the future we want as indigenous peoples. As our ancestors say that, “[Bears Ears]is a part of

our footprints, a path that tells a story. History is crucial to man because it tells us of who we are.

Those who lived before us have never left. Their voices are part of the rhythm or heartbeat of the

universe and will echo through eternity” (Alfred Lomahquahu, Hopi, 2017).

Protecting the whole Bears Ears Landscape is to protect Mother Earth.

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Works Cited

D’Angelo, Chris. “Trumps ‘Review’ of Utah Monument Was Over Before It Started.”

Huffington Post, 17 Oct. 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-bears-ears-

review_us_59f39ffbe4b03cd20b81b2f1

Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni. “Bears

Ears National Monument is Under Attack. Help Our Tribes Fight Back.” Protect Bears

Ears, bearsearscoalition.org/.

Forest Service, United States. “Bears Ears National Monument.” Unites States Forest Service,

https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/bears-ears-national-monument29 January 2018

Larson, Leia. “The Bears Ears National Monument designation debate, explained.” Standard-

Examiner, 29 Dec. 2016, www.standard.net/Environment/2016/12/29/why-is-bears-

ears-national-monument-controversy-obama-big-deal.

Trump, Donald J. “Read Trump's proclamation replacing Bears Ears with two far smaller

monuments.” The Salt Lake Tribune, 4 Dec. 2017,

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/04/read-trumps-proclamation-

replacing-bears-ears-with-two-far-smaller-monuments/

Landreth, Natalie A., Campbell Matthew L. “Protecting Bears Ears National Monument.” Native

American Rights Fund, https://www.narf.org/cases/protecting-bears-ears-national-

monument/Accessed 29 January 2018

Forest Service, United States. “Bears Ears National Monument Questions & Answers” United

States Forest Service. 2017.https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/bear-ears-fact-

sheet.pdfAccessed 28 January 2018

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Native American Rights Fund. Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute

Tribe, Zuni Tribe V. Donald J. Trump, Ryan Zinke, Brian Steed, Sonny Perdue. 4 Dec.

2017, p. 61.