Stopping destruction of Bears Ears

The Pueblo peoples have strong ancestral ties to the Bears Ears region near the Four Corners. We have stories passed through the generations about the two buttes and the canyons below them. We continue to visit and pray to our ancestors buried there among the homes they built. We don’t wear our religion on our sleeves as we are humble in our spirituality, but we conduct ceremonies, often in secret, there. Our connection to Bears Ears may be weaker than it once was, but it remains here in our hearts.

The destruction of Bears Ears National Monument by President Donald Trump and the Utah congressional delegation is an attack on the Pueblo people and our cultural heritage contained in those sacred lands.

For too long we have stood silent while the graves and belongings of our ancestors suffered haphazard looting. For too long we have allowed our rich history to be chipped away by vandals. Now we find that uranium companies swayed the debate on Bears Ears so they could mine for the radioactive ore that has killed and poisoned so many of our people.

Our brothers and sisters from the Ute, Diné, Hopi and Zuni tribes, who fought for and won these protections, deserve great credit and our gratitude. Now that the most anti-Native president in modern history is laying waste to the monument, the Pueblos need to rise together and demand the return of those protections for Bears Ears and the spirits that reside there.

Garon Coriz, M.D., is a member of Santo Domingo Pueblo living and working in Richfield, Utah, as a family and emergency medicine physician.