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Reclaim

Bears Ears

Through August 2022, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC) will be launching our campaign to Reclaim Bears Ears. We will share our thoughts on what it means to reclaim the inter-connected landscape that is Bears Ears and demonstrate the necessity of Indigenous Stewardship.

Stay tuned for bi-weekly installments in the upcoming weeks as we explore principles that help conceptualize what it means to Indigenize Stewardship of (so-called) public lands, cover allyship and how to be a good relative, and discuss topics related to Tribal co-management.

We invite you to learn with us, share this campaign through social media, and donate!

Indigenous Stewardship will be realized when Indigenous people have control over, and access to, their ancestral homelands including tools to protect all spiritual, cultural, and economic resources within them.

Background of Indigenous Stewardship

For centuries, Indigenous peoples have been stewards of the land in North America (Turtle Island) and continue to pass down Traditional Knowledge regarding land, wildlife, and resource management. Indigenous Stewardship will be realized when Indigenous people have control over, and access to, their ancestral homelands including tools to protect all spiritual, cultural, and economic resources within them. Native Nations have the Traditional and local knowledge to be the best stewards of their ancestral homelands, as they have been in a reciprocal relation with land since time immemorial.

Our ancestors passed down profound knowledge about all living plants and species. They recognized how the world around us is medicine and how to heal ourselves physically and spiritually. Their deep appreciation and respect for the Earth is a guiding light for how we care for the world and each other today. Our ways of knowing regarding land stewardship must be regarded as equal to knowledge associated with Western sciences.

What is Indigenous Stewardship?

Our work at the BEITC is changing the tide of history and giving back to Indigenous peoples. As we move towards Reclaiming Bears Ears, we hope to incorporate Indigenous Stewardship as we reconnect with the land through uplifting Indigenous voices. At the BEITC, we operate through a two prong system composed of our elected Tribal Leadership and our Cultural Resource Subcommittee (CRS) who work in tandem with each other to shape our Indigenous-informed land management plan. 

Our CRS is composed of departmental Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, Cultural Preservation officers, and other cultural leaders. It is through these two bodies we are able to meet the needs of five distinct Tribal Nations while also upholding principles of Indigenous Stewardship. For centuries, Indigenous voices were ignored and dismissed from important and long lasting decisions regarding our homelands. Here at the BEITC, we work to uplift those voices by giving them a space to make decisions based on, and grounded in, Indigenous perspectives and values. 

"The reconnection through our sacred sites and traditions and prayers allow us to heal and continue and practice our way of life."

- Carleton Bowekaty, the Lt. Governor of the Pueblo of Zuni and Co-Chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

See reporting on this historic occasion here . 

Indigenous Stewardship In Action

One way we've been successful in applying Indigenous Stewardship is through our recent signing of a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to co-manage the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM). This agreement is historic as it codifies the Tribes' ability to have a say in the day-to-day management of BENM.

The new Management Monument Plans will utilize the BEITC's own Indigenous-informed land plan to guide and inform management and stewardship practices. This arrangement is groundbreaking as it allows Tribes to make and inform decisions from the very beginning of the process, as opposed to retroactively through conventional consultation practices. This agreement is a step towards including Indigenous voices, perspectives, and knowledge into land management. We hope our actions and work can act as a model for other Indigenous Nations moving forward.

Your Support Matters

Thank you for your continued support of the BEITC, and for supporting our campaign to Reclaim Bears Ears through Indigenous Stewardship. We are appreciative of your commitment and devotion to the Bears Ears movement and this living landscape. With your support, we are able to continue our work on behalf of the respective Tribal Nations and the Bears Ears National Monument.

Your donation will help us to promote Indigenous Stewardship and to protect Bears Ears for generations to come. We hope we can count on you to help us make this our best campaign yet!

Thank you for walking with us.

Thank you • Elahkwa • Ahéhee' • Kwakwhay • Askwali • Tog'oiak'