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We hope this newsletter finds you in good health and high spirits as the warmth of summer begins its annual embrace. We're delighted to introduce our end-of-spring newsletter, and we're excited to share the Coalition's latest updates, accomplishments, and some opportunities that are fast approaching for our supporters to get involved in the work.
We hope that the spring season has offered the opportunity to reconnect with the natural world and celebrate the vibrant colors and fragrant scents of this renewal period. Spring was a season of rebirth, and we hope it served as a reminder of the joy and reverence of our ancestors and relations.Â
Thank you for your continued support and engagement.
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Bears Ears Commission’s New Logo
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We are elated to share the Bears Ears Commission’s new logo! We’re extremely grateful to have worked with the remarkable artist Mallery Quetaki from the Pueblo of Zuni. When creating the Commission’s new logo, Mallery created a few options, and shared them with the Bears Ears Logo Youth Committee for feedback and recommendations. After incorporating their feedback, these drafts were submitted to leadership from the five Coalition Tribes, who then unanimously agreed upon this image as the Commission’s logo.
With the Bears Ears National Monument now restored and the Coalition Tribes being recognized as collaborative managers, along with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S.Forest Service (USFS), it was important to the Leaders for the Commission to have its own logo to honor the Bears Ears Commission as a permanent institution.
One of the Coalition’s organizational priorities is to engage the five Tribal communities with our work. The Bears Ears National Monument was established to honor, recognize, and protect these communities’ ancestral ties to the Bears Ears region and we, as a Tribal-led nonprofit, want to support these communities in any capacity we can. One way we do this is by hiring artists with ties to Bears Ears and by promoting community engagement in our work. In addition, the Coalition’s Tribal leaders are always seeking ways to get youth involved in Bears Ears work. This is why we established the Bears Ears Logo Youth Committee.Â
The Bears Ears Logo Youth Committee was created to provide the artists with guidance on a new logo. The members of the committee were young people from two of the Coalition Tribes and we are very thankful for their thoughtful feedback. Our work as the Coalition isn’t done and we will keep our classic Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition logo, but since the Commission has been recognized as its own entity, with its own federally recognized tasks and obligations, we realized that it was time to differentiate it from the Coalition.
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Meeting with Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson
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One major highlight since our last newsletter was the Coalition Tribes accepting an invite from Utah’s leadership to discuss a potential visitor’s center for the Bears Ears National Monument. The Coalition Tribes met with Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson and State Representative Doug Owens, and other leaders from the state of Utah in late February. Representatives from each of the five Tribes, along with the Commission’s Collaborative management partners from the BLM and the USFS met at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City to discuss funding from the State of Utah to support an advisory committee’s feasibility study for a visitor's center in or near the Bears Ears National Monument.Â
Representing the USFS was Regional Forester, Intermountain Region, Mary Farnsworth and District Ranger, Moab/Monticello Ranger District, Michael Engelhart, and representing the Bureau of Land Management was Principal Deputy Director, Nada Wolff Culver and Utah State Director Greg Sheehan.
If the Tribes decide to accept the State’s funding offer, the visitor center could employ Tribal members, act as a repository of Traditional Knowledge, and teach visitors how to Visit With Respect.
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Welcoming New Leadership and Thanking Outgoing Leaders
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The Coalition is pleased to introduce new Coalition leaders and Bears Ears Commissioners.
Head Councilman Anthony Sanchez Jr. is representing the Pueblo of Zuni on the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition as well as the Bears Ears Commission. We are honored to work with Commissioner Sanchez, and we look forward to supporting his leadership and learning from him moving forward. Mr. Sanchez was appointed by Zuni Governor Arden Kucate in March.
The Navajo Nation has two new leaders appointed by President Buu Nygren. Ms. Davina Smith is the new Navajo representative for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and Mr. Curtis Yanito was appointed as the Bears Ears Commissioner. Both Navajo appointees have extensive knowledge and Bears Ears and will provide strong leadership for their nation.
With new leadership also comes farewells to two outstanding leaders. The Coalition has been privileged and has benefited greatly from the leadership of both Mr. Carleton Bowekaty (Pueblo of Zuni) and Mr. Hank Stevens (Diné).
Both Mr. Bowekay and Mr. Stevens have been prominent Coalition leaders for their respective nations since the early days of organizing for the protection of Bears Ears. They both served as Bears Ears Commissioners until recently when their replacements were appointed by the heads of their Tribal governments. Under their leadership, the Coalition achieved the initial establishment of the Monument, and then successfully restored the BENM, and also obtained collaborative management of the Monument. They have offered immeasurable value to the movement to protect Bears Ears and their leadership will go down in history as being vital to the protection of, not just Bears Ears, but all sacred places and native ancestral homelands.Â
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From left to right: Head Councilman Anthony Sanchez Jr. (Pueblo of Zuni), Governor Arden Kucate (Pueblo of Zuni), Vice Chairman Christopher Tabbee (Ute Indian Tribe), BEITC Representative Davina Smith (DinĂ©), Councilman Curtis Yanito (DinĂ©)Â
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Left: Former Lieutenant Governor of Zuni, and BEITC Co-Chair, Mr. Carleton Bowekaty; Right: Former BEITC Co-Chair and Navajo Nation Representative, Mr. Hank Stevens
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Hopi Cultural Sensitivity Training
In late March, Bears Ears Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribe, Craig Andrews, invited Coalition staff and officials from the USFS and the BLM to attend a Cultural Sensitivity Training and to visit Hopi villages.
Coalition staff and agency personnel attended three presentations and were given a tour of near-by dinosaur tracks. The presentations discussed various aspects of Hopi culture, and provided an overview of ancestral migration patterns including how the Hopi migrated to their nation’s current boundaries. The presentations also gave overview of the book Becoming Hopi (co-authored by Stewart Koyiyumptewa) and concluded by providing a synopsis of completed and ongoing projects from the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.
The Coalition’s staff are honored to have been a part of this unique event and we are thankful that we were invited into Hopi communities. We feel privileged to have the opportunity to learn about how to honor and respect Hopi history and culture. Coalition staff are working with Tribal leaders from each of the five Tribes to ensure that trainings like this will be provided to Coalition staff and agency personnel moving forward.
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Field Visits with Federal Agencies
As an Inter-Tribal Coalition protecting the Bears Ears living landscape, one of our main objectives is to help connect the five Tribes to their ancestral homelands. We frequently schedule field visits for our Tribal leaders and their staff, and for the Tribal experts in the Cultural Resources Subcommittee. This allows our leadership and Tribal experts to have firsthand knowledge about the interconnected landscape that they have been tasked to protect through collaborative management. These experiences provide the space for Tribal leaders to express and convey their Nations’ connections to the Bears Ears region to their communities and to those who appointed them to represent their nation on the Bears Ears Commission, in addition to their federal land managing counterparts representing federal agencies.
Just last week, leaders from each of the five Tribes toured the Bears Ears National Monument with BLM and USFS leadership and staff. The Commission had the opportunity to share their traditional knowledge and expertise with federal officials, and to learn from agency subject matter experts engaged in land planning.Â
See a few photos from last week’s trip:
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Before we go:
As the Monument planning process unfolds, we ask that you stay tuned for ways to support the five Tribes in their mission to protect Bears Ears from the multitude of threats it continues to face. Soon we will be soliciting your feedback so that you can receive the Bears Ears news that matters most to you, and by the end of the year we'll be asking for your help during the 90-day public comment period. Â
Thank you - Ahéhee' - Kwakwhay - Askwali - Elahkwa - Tog'oiak' for the ongoing support!
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