Leaders from the Cochiti, Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute and Zuni tribes meet in Utah, calling on the federal government to create an area in Utah as a national monument.
BEARS EARS, UT-More than two dozen tribes are calling on President Barack Obama to designate a new national monument to protect 1.9 million acres of sacred and historic land in Utah.
New designations are controversial among Republicans but tribal leaders hope that strong support from Indian Country will help make the case for the Bears Ears National Monument. They will also settle for the creation of a conservation area in the southeastern portion of the state.
"We've never been given the opportunity to speak on behalf of our sacred sites on public lands," said Alfred Lomahquahu, the vice chairman of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. "This landscape has been called home by so many Native American cultures over several millennia, so it is the right approach to protect the Bears Ears landscape as a coalition of tribal nations."
Lomahquahu and the Hopi Tribe belong to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that's pushing for the new designation. Supporters of the effort come from Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas and include the Navajo Nation, the Ute Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe and all 20 Pueblo governments.
