Native peoples once lived in cliff dwellings like these, carved into the mountains of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

Colin D. Young/Shutterstock.com

STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4, SL.6-8.1

NCSS: Time, Continuity, and Change • People, Places, and Environments • Individuals, Groups, and Institutions • Power, Authority, and Governance

GEOGRAPHY

Sacred Ground

In a historic first, five Tribal Nations are helping to preserve a national monument that is central to their way of life.

February 2023

By Karen Grimaldos

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world visit Bears Ears National Monument in Utah to hike, camp, or simply take in the views. Named for two buttes (towers of rock) that resemble the ears of a bear, the monument stretches across 1.36 million acres. Its rocky landscape includes mountains, cliffs, and sandstone valleys.

But for the nearly 20,000 Native American people who live nearby, Bears Ears is more than a tourist attraction. To them, the land is sacred. For centuries, the area’s many landforms and waterways—including red rock canyons and winding rivers—were home to their ancestors.

Now five Tribal Nations have joined forces with the U.S. government to help preserve the land. Last June, the Pueblo of Zuni, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, and Hopi signed an agreement to co-manage Bears Ears. The tribal coalition is working with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

“We are being invited back to our homelands to help repair them,” says Carleton Bowekaty, the lieutenant governor of the Pueblo of Zuni. “Protecting Bears Ears protects our history and connection to our ancestors.”

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world visit Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. They hike, camp, or simply take in the views. The monument is named for two buttes (towers of rock) that look like the ears of a bear. Its rocky landscape stretches across 1.36 million acres that include mountains, cliffs, and sandstone valleys.

Nearly 20,000 Native American people live nearby. For them, Bears Ears is more than a tourist attraction. For centuries, the area’s many landforms and waterways—including red rock canyons and winding rivers—were home to their ancestors. They see the land as sacred.

Now five Tribal Nations have joined forces with the U.S. government to help protect the land. Last June, the Pueblo of Zuni, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, and Hopi signed an agreement to co-manage Bears Ears. The tribal coalition is working with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

“We are being invited back to our homelands to help repair them,” says Carleton Bowekaty. He is the lieutenant governor of the Pueblo of Zuni. “Protecting Bears Ears protects our history and connection to our ancestors.”

Stolen Land

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have lived in what is now the United States. But in the 1600s, European settlers began seizing their land. This continued long after the U.S. became a country. Over time, Native peoples in the continental U.S. were pushed off approximately 99 percent of their ancestral land.

More than 10,000 Navajo people, for example, were driven from their homeland in the Southwest in the 1860s. During a tragedy known as the Long Walk, the U.S. Army burned Navajo villages and forced the men, women, and children who had lived there to march up to 450 miles to an internment camp in what is now New Mexico. Hundreds of Navajo people died on the grueling journey, but many escaped by hiding in the sprawling terrain of Bears Ears.

For example, more than 10,000 Navajo people were driven from their homeland in the Southwest in the 1860s. During a tragedy known as the Long Walk, the U.S. Army burned Navajo villages. It forced the men, women, and children who had lived there to march up to 450 miles to an internment camp. That camp was in what is now New Mexico. Hundreds of Navajo people died on the grueling journey. But many escaped by hiding in the sprawling terrain of Bears Ears.

Protecting the Past

Jeff Foott/SuperStock

Visitors to Bears Ears can study hundreds of petroglyphs—ancient images carved into rock.

The refuge the landscape provided is one of many reasons that Bears Ears is significant to local Native Nations. What’s more, the area is home to Indigenous burial grounds. There are also remains of ancient villages, ancestral Pueblo stonework and dwellings, Navajo and Ute rock paintings, and petroglyphs, or rock carvings.

Over time, tourists have damaged or destroyed many of the cultural sites in Bears Ears. The five Native Nations fought for years for the area to receive government protection. Their efforts finally paid off in 2016 when Bears Ears was designated a national monument—and again this past summer, when they agreed to take an active role in protecting it.

National monument status protects areas of historical, cultural, or scientific importance. Depending on the site, protections might include bans against drilling or road construction. Today there are more than 140 national monuments in the U.S., but Bears Ears is the first area granted that status at the request of Tribal Nations.

The refuge the landscape provided is one of many reasons that Bears Ears is important to local Native Nations. The area is also home to Indigenous burial grounds. And there are remains of ancient villages, ancestral Pueblo stonework and dwellings, Navajo and Ute rock paintings, and petroglyphs (rock carvings).

Over time, tourists have damaged or destroyed many of the cultural sites in Bears Ears. For years, the five Native Nations fought for the area to receive government protection. Their efforts finally paid off in 2016. That is when Bears Ears was made a national monument. Those efforts paid off again this past summer, when they agreed to take an active role in protecting it.

National monument status protects areas of historical, cultural, or scientific importance. Depending on the site, protections might include bans against drilling or road construction. Today there are more than 140 national monuments in the U.S. But Bears Ears is the first area granted that status at the request of Tribal Nations.

This map of the contiguous United States shows the locations of Bears Ears and the five Tribal Nations helping to manage it.

Sharing History

In addition to managing and protecting Bears Ears, tribal leaders plan to create educational opportunities for visitors, including a learning center where people can discover why the area is important to local Tribal Nations. Native peoples still visit Bears Ears to take part in healing ceremonies and celebrations. The site is also home to plants used in traditional foods and medicines.

“We want to share our history because it adds to the fabric of our great nation,” says Bowekaty. “It also shows our strength to younger generations.”

Tribal leaders will manage and protect Bears Ears. They plan to also create educational opportunities for visitors, including a learning center where people can discover why the area is important to local Tribal Nations. Native peoples still visit Bears Ears to take part in healing ceremonies and celebrations. The site is also home to plants used in traditional foods and medicines.

“We want to share our history because it adds to the fabric of our great nation,” says Bowekaty. “It also shows our strength to younger generations.”

UNDERSTANDING

A Physical Elevation Map

Physical maps show information about a region’s terrain, including major landforms (such as mountains) and bodies of water (such as rivers). Elevation maps—which are a type of physical map—highlight the different elevations in height above sea level. Elevation can be shown in various ways, including color-coding.