President Biden: Preserve sacred land, designate the Kw’tsán National Monument now
Advocating for setting aside more than 390,000 acres currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe hopes to create legal protections that, along with responsible federal stewardship practices, will preserve the land and wildlife forever.
As original stewards of these sacred landscapes, the Tribe’s “culture is rooted in the air and the soil,” explains Donald Medart Jr., Quechan Tribal Councilman. He says: “These are the places we will continue to take our children and grandchildren to learn about who we are as a people — these are places that do not recognize boundaries on a map and are connected by history and our stories.”
Climate change has led to extreme drought, and the unsustainable extraction of water from the Colorado River has combined to upend and destabilize the ecosystem. Meanwhile, the land is threatened every day by mining exploration, stolen natural resources, and harmful development.
The water flowing through the Haquita, also known as the Colorado River, is crucial for the health of the region’s complex overlapping ecosystems, which the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe has managed sustainably for generations. Indigenous traditions can rectify the federal government’s past land and water management practices that have harmed these sacred landscapes.
The proposed Kw’tsán National Monument connects Spirit Mountain, Palo Verde Peak, the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, and Buzzards Peak, incorporating the Indian Pass Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). The Bureau of Land Management has already identified these areas as “public land that requires special management to protect important resources or unique landscapes, or to protect people and property from hazards.”
The value of caring for ancestral homelands runs deep in Quechan culture and philosophy. As they explain, “Our ancestors gifted us the role as caretakers of Mother Earth, and the responsibility to protect all living beings of the natural world.”
The mountains in the region include Avikwalal (Pilot Knob), Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain) and Avi Kwa Suen (Cargo Muchachos). Among the area’s sacred artifacts and cultural history are the Singer Geoglyphs, ancient symbols etched directly into the ground.
When the land is properly managed, many endangered species thrive in this region. From roadrunners, tortoises, and quail to jackrabbits, foxes, snakes, and coyotes, Native peoples share this space with many non-human relatives.
The diversity of flowers and plants is another living example of a thriving community that must be treated with respect. From the agave, saguaro, and mesquite to milkweed, sunflower, Devil’s Claw, and Foxtail Cactus, as the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe says, “We are connected to the air, land, plants, insects, and four-leggeds that share our home.”
All public lands are on Indigenous homelands. As the original stewards and guardians of their homelands, the Quechan People have been asking the Biden administration to act to ensure they can continue protecting their rich heritage.
It’s time for President Biden to use the authority granted by the Antiquities Act to designate Kw’tsán National Monument.
NDN Collective
Contact the Interior Department about Bears Ears
As the first national monument proposed by a coalition of Tribal Nations, Bears Ears gained protections under the Obama administration but lost protections under the Trump administration.
The five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission (BEC) — Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Zuni Tribe — are among the many Tribal Nations with deep cultural connections to the entire Bears Ears landscape.
They helped win the reinstatement of protections under President Biden, who restored the original designation and re-established the BEC as collaborative managers of these sacred lands and waters.
In an unprecedented collaborative process, the BEC worked directly with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to develop a draft resource management plan for the monument, which has just been released — and it needs our support.
Alternative E was created from the input from over 90 community meetings which gathered input and concerns. As outlined in this newly released plan, Alternative E would set a new standard for sustainable management of public lands.
Specifically, Alternative E incorporates the most Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and TraditionalEcological Knowledge — both needed to balance public access with protecting the area’s cultural and natural resources. It would represent a sustainable collaboration that:
- Upholds the sovereignty of the Tribes and honors Indigenous peoples’ personal, traditional, and cultural connections to the land.
- Reflects time-tested best practices for land management passed down over centuries from the original, and ongoing, stewards of this land.
- Protects the habitat, wildlife, and resource biodiversity.
- Responsibly manages access and use of the Monument in a way that allows current and future visitors to recreate, hunt, and fish, while also responding to the needs and health of the land.
Our work together has already generated more than 63,000 comments in support of the plan, but that’s not enough to ensure its adoption before the final decision is made — and the deadline is fast approaching.
Together, we’re re-Indigenizing national parks and protecting sacred places across the country.
Hawwih (thank you) for supporting grassroots community-powered Tribal sovereignty.
Indigenous Leaders Call for Compassionate Release of Leonard Peltier
For Immediate Release: April 15, 2024
Rapid City, SD – In light of the severe health conditions and medical needs of longtime Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier, NDN Collective and Native Organizers Alliance are asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to free Peltier through compassionate release.
“At the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Attorney General Merrick Garland stood in front of hundreds of Tribal leaders and committed to make Native American civil rights a priority to the Biden administration,” said Nick Tilsen, President and CEO of NDN Collective. “Supporting the compassionate release of Leonard Peltier after nearly five decades of imprisonment would be a clear signal that he intends to make good on that promise.
“Peltier’s civil rights were violated repeatedly throughout his prosecution and imprisonment. His continued incarceration should be considered cruel and unusual punishment,” continued Tilsen. “Will Attorney General Garland be known for being humane and releasing Leonard Peltier, or for letting him die behind bars on his watch? One of these choices will absolutely be a part of Garland’s legacy. Given the recognition of the many prosecutorial and constitutional violations from every level of those involved in his prosecution, the only morally and legally sound action is to release Leonard Peltier now. Every single moment matters.”
“We are asking the Department of Justice to support the compassionate release of Leonard Peltier,” said Judith LeBlanc, Executive Director of Native Organizers Alliance. “As the longest-serving political prisoner in the United States, Leonard has become a symbol of resilience. At a time when democratic values are being questioned, the DOJ should take action as he nears the end of his life and allow him to return to his family and his ancestral homeland. We implore the DOJ to grant Peltier compassionate release.”
NDN Collective has been actively organizing for the release of Leonard Peltier for years, including leading a caravan from Rapid City, SD to Washington, DC last year where they rallied outside the White House.
###
NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
To Request an Interview Contact:
Press release originally published here: https://ndncollective.org/indigenous-leaders-call-for-compassionate-release-of-leonard-peltier/
