U.N.: Bears Ears is a model
By Alastair Lee Bitsoi
Ongoing grave robbing and looting of cultural artifacts at Bears Ears National Monument are human rights violations, says Honor Keeler, assistant director of Utah Diné Bikéyah.
“This violates Article 11 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” he said.
According to Article 11 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
“Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies … etc.” As a result of this provision, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, is the body to address these ongoing human rights violations.”
On April 19, Keeler submitted this official statement:
“Looting & Graving-Robbing at Bears Ears National Monument — Ongoing Humans Rights Violations” to the UNPFII and Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, which called on the international community to help restore and protect cultural resources at Bears Ears. Utah Diné Bikéyah’s engagement with the UN comes after President Trump shrank the Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent into two smaller units, an action that favors oil, gas, and uranium industries.”
“Most of the Bears Ears landscape was reopened to mineral leasing in February, and the looting of indigenous ancestral burial sites and other sacred places continues and can never be restored,” Keeler said about Trump’s proclamation. “We are at critical juncture when the richness of our future is intertwined with the wisdom of our past and our ability to convince political leaders that our voice matters.”
Keeler’s written testimony included how the UNPFII is the proper body to the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service to halt its monument management planning for the Shash Jaa’ and Indian Creek Units of Bears Ears National Monument. Keeler further stated that Trump’s proclamation to shrink Bears Ears is illegal and recommends restoration to its original 1.3-million-acre size.
“We recommend the UN Special Rapporteur direct the United States to respond to these human rights violations, to formally adopt the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into U.S. law, and wait until this issue has worked through the courts before producing a hasty management plan,” Keeler said.
Along with Keeler, Utah Diné Bikéyah’s cultural resources coordinator Angelo Baca also submitted testimony, both verbal and written, April 17.
Baca’s statement, “Healing and Bears Ears National Monument by the United States,” discusses how tribes in the U.S. are losing access to cultural landscapes such as at Bears Ears. The U.N. Special Rapporteur responded that the 1.35 million acre original boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument, co-managed by indigenous peoples and the proposal made by indigenous peoples to create that monument, was an example of “good practice” in cultural resources management. She condemned its reduction and stated that she had included this in her report.
“In pursuant of equality, Utah Diné Bikéyah has engaged with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues across the nation,” said Utah Diné Bikéyah board chair Willie Grayeyes. ” In light of this, UDB offers healing the earth, in its near pristine form, to further establish full protection from all desecrating activities that has been done. The Bears Ears region is the ancestral homeland of the Diné, Hopi, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni peoples before anyone else. This ongoing work with the international community will unite and allows all Native Americans to advocate for our generations to come, whereby the earth rests in the wisdom, foresight, and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples of the world. With this hope and understanding, we can achieve peace and tranquility for all.”
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