More than 300 million people visit national parks each year. A new project is asking those travelers to donate to Tribes whose homelands and sacred sites are occupied by parks and monuments.
“In every single one of those parks, Native people have culturally rich relationships and cosmology,” said Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney and activist who directs the Lakota People’s Law Project, which started theSacred Defense National Parks & Monuments Initiative this summer.
The goal is to compensate tribes connected to the land who were, in many cases, forcibly removed from it.
“These places are very, very special and we feel that the American parks system and just the way people relate to the land – it’s missing the Indigenous angle,” said Iron Eyes. “This is a way to connect directly with the American people.”
The initiative began with 14 parks and monuments, including Arches in Utah, Grand Teton in Wyoming and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It's raised $6,000 so far and plans to distribute the money each year to tribes that sign up.
So far, the Sovereign Nation of Hawai’i, the Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe are among those participating in receiving donations. The money will come from people visiting Haleakalā National Park, Yosemite National Park and Death Valley National Park, respectively. Additional tribal governments are considering signing on as beneficiaries.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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