Dear Bears Ears Supporter,
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There’s only two weeks left in our Reclaim Bears Ears Campaign! Our work is only possible with donations from our supporters, so we urge you to donate today. Your contributions to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC) are important and essential to our organization’s mission. They help fund and further the work of the BEITC’s respective Tribal Nations and ensure protections over the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM). As always, thank you to those who have donated, your support is sincerely appreciated.
This week, we invite you to learn with us about how BEITC incorporates co-management and the significance of best practices.
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Please don’t forget to share this campaign through social media, and donate!
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One-Of-A-Kind Land Management Plan (LMP)
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The purpose of the BEITC Land Management Plan is intended to provide a synthesis of Tribal perspectives on managing the landscape of the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM). The BEITC Land Management Plan emphasizes a holistic approach to all resources that gives primacy to Indigenous knowledge and perspectives on the stewardship of the Bears Ears landscape. Although prepared for BENM, this plan can also be applied beyond the boundaries of the Monument, as it is intended to provide the foundation for proactive collaborative management of ancestral lands that extend well beyond current reservation boundaries.
The Bears Ears region has significance that is greater than any single Native group. It is a sacred landscape that transcends individual Tribal concerns. The goals of having collaborative management in BENM can be summarized as follows:
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Establish a proactive process for the Tribal Nations of BEITC to collaboratively manage BENM with Federal land managers
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Have Indigenous knowledge and Native ways of knowing given equal consideration and legitimacy with knowledge from processes framed by a Western scientific paradigm
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Create by-laws for equity between Tribes and Federal land managers that will also ensure continuity of collaborative management
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Create a full-time Tribal Management staff to participate in collaborative management with Federal land managers
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Secure Federal funding for full-time Tribal Management staff
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Establish and fund a Traditional Knowledge Institute that has programs that would have a Native benefit
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Realize and reinforce a collaborative management framework that can be easily duplicated as a model for other Tribal Nations in the protection of sacred places
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Establish a reciprocal relationship between Tribes and Federal land managers regarding sharing of Indigenous knowledge with information collected within a Western scientific paradigm
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Enhanced data sharing and acquisition for Tribes
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Tribal input regarding adapting the collaborative land management plan overtime
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Collaboration between Tribal Nations and Federal land managers is proposed as the foundation of true co-management of these important lands. Collaboration includes on-going, meaningful engagement. Collaboration between Tribal Nations and Federal agencies is seen as the foundation for both planning and implementation of day-to-day management decisions with the common goal of long-term, sustainable management of the Bears Ears landscape.
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- Early and meaningful integration of Tribes in decision-making processes
- The BEITC proposes to increase the involvement of Tribes early and often so as to be proactive in the land management planning process instead of perpetuating the reactive relationship between Tribes and land management agencies. Collaboration between Tribal Nations and Federal agencies is seen as the foundation for both planning and implementation of day-to-day management decisions with the common goal of long-term, sustainable management of the Bears Ears Landscape.
- Recognition of distinct Tribal Nations
- The BEITC is comprised of five sovereign Tribal Nations who all have distinct forms of government in which each Tribal Governmental processes need to be abided by. Each Coalition Tribe exercises its inherent right to self-determination by appointing a delegate to represent in the Coalition’s work.
- Regarding Indigenous knowledge and expertise as equal and valuable for land management practices
- The Tribal Nations of the BEITC are knowledge-sovereign, in other words their way of knowledge is in equal standing to, and independent from, mainstream Western scientific methodologies. Knowledge sovereignty is inextricably tied to cultural, social, and political sovereignty; we maintain that ecological health and well-being are to be understood from a traditional knowledge perspective, which includes living in reciprocity with the earth and all its resources.
- Holistic-based perspectives and understanding
- Many Indigenous peoples have a different worldview or way of thinking when it comes to knowledge and understanding. One way the BEITC Land Management Plan and greater collaborative management process is different from any other is that it has been grounded in a holistic approach. Typically in Western-based sciences, land planning is approached by isolating or separating sites or cultural resources (i.e. a hogan). The Tribes have made a concerted effort to shift this practice and instead implement an earth-to-sky methodology which looks at the interconnectedness between sites or resources rather than separate, individual ‘sites.’ When Western science compartmentalizes these resources, it often fails to capture all the cultural significance of this area.
- Understanding Historical Trauma
- When working with Native peoples, many of whom share stories of trauma and forced removal from their homelands. When working with individuals who have experienced forced removal by the hand of multiple United States Federal entities, it creates a long withstanding mistrust of federal policies and processes. Therefore, as the Coalition, we have worked to rebuild trust within our own nations as Southwest peoples which includes having cultural humility and being united by the shared concern for protection of the Bears Ears National Monument.
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Thank you for your continued support of the BEITC, and for supporting our campaign to Reclaim Bears Ears through co-management and best practices. We are appreciative of your commitment and devotion to the Bears Ears movement and this living landscape. Your contributions directly support and fund the work of the respective Tribal Nations and the Bears Ears National Monument. Your financial support aids in the protection of all sacred sites and places on the Bears Ears landscape.
Thank you for walking with us.
We hope we can count on you to make a donation today!
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Elahkwa - Tog'oiak' - Thank you - Ahéhee' - Kwakwhay - Askwali
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Copyright ©2022 Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, All rights reserved.
Where to find us:
110 2nd St. SW, Ste 304, Albuquerque, NM 87102
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