Indigenous Women Urge Biden to Restore Protection to Bears Ears

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We are among the Women of Bears Ears — Indigenous women who support our families and communities in the protections of ancestral lands. We come from Diné, Nuche, Pueblo and other allied Native Nations. From these Southwestern lands, twin buttes rise; they are known as Bears Ears.

In an opinion piece written for The New York Times on April 25, four members of  the organization Women of Bears Ears (Elouise Wilson, Mary R. Benally, Ahjani Yepa and Cynthia Wilson) made a compelling case to restore federal protections for the entire Bears Ears area. 

In 2016, then President Barack Obama had designated the area as a natural monument, creating protections for this area sacred to native peoples.  A year later, Obama’s successor, then President Donald Trump reduced the Bears National Monument by 85 percent, in order to open significant parts of the areato fossil fuel development and other uses.

So what will President Joe Biden do?  He has asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo,  to examine the decision by the Trump administration. She recently traveled to the area to meet with those who live near the Bears Ears area.

NM-IPL has also been involved in this issue. Our organization helped organize faith leaders for a prayer and action pilgrimage to Bears Ears in 2017 before Trump’s adverse actions..

Haaland decision is pending.  We’ll keep you posted.