Near the Grand Canyon: A Tribal Coalition Against Miner-Based Land Use Measurements: The Havasupai Tribe As a Native American Heritage Site
President Biden is about to announce a new national monument in Arizona that is meant to protect Native American sacred sites on a few hundred thousand acres of federal land. It’s a reflection of his administration prioritizing goals of America’s indigenous peoples.
There’s only one tribe who actually lives inside the the Grand Canyon, the Havasupai, and they’ve been among the most outspoken of the more than dozen tribes in the area who have cultural and historic ties to the canyon. After President Obama imposed a 20-year hold on new mines, they banded together to push for land protections.
There is no evidence that mining will endanger the health of the populace near the Grand Canyon, according to a company official.
All we have left are our historical sites and sacred places. Our homelands, our sacred places, everything else has been taken from us. Carletta Tilousi is a former member of the Council and a member of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition.
Not surprisingly, the uranium industry has opposed restrictions on mining in the area for years. They say there are significant reserves near the Grand Canyon, which can be mined with minimal impact to the land.
The Importance of Native Rights in the Grand Canyon: Biden’s Proposal for a High-Redshift Uranium National Monument
The Biden administration is very accommodating to Native peoples’ concerns. The Interior Secretary is Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous member of the cabinet. She put the tribes in the driver’s seat for the current version of the monument proposal, which is very in line with what they have been requesting.
“A lot has changed in … 50, 60, 70 years,” Moore said. “We know a lot more about how to mine uranium responsibly. We’re all interested in protecting the Grand Canyon as a national treasure.
Russia and the Soviet Union supply nearly half of all U.S. nuclear fuel now.
The White House says the land inside the new monument has less than 2% of the known uranium reserves in the U.S. and that there’s plenty of uranium elsewhere.
The president said he’s setting the land near the Grand Canyon aside because there are thousands of sacred and cultural sites that are important to more than a dozen tribes there.
The new monument will encompass lands on both the Grand Canyon’s north and south rims. The ponderosa pine forest is high up above sea level, while the mixed vegetation is found south of the park. There’s also a section of desert landscape along the Colorado River outside of the park that’ll be protected. It’s an extremely ecologically diverse area that contains many seeps and springs that feed the river.
Biden and the Grand Canyon National Monument: Is It About Advertising or What Do Americans Really Want to Learn About Washington, D.C.?
Tuesday’s announcement is part of a trip that will include New Mexico and Utah and where Biden is expected to talk about how he is tackling the climate and economic challenges facing Americans in the West.
The poll showed broad support, but local ranchers who have been working the land for years have concerns. The national monument designation doesn’t affect existing uranium mining claims, according to senior administration officials.
“It will help protect lands that many tribes referred to as their eternal home, a place of healing and a source of spiritual sustenance,” she said. “It will help ensure that indigenous peoples can continue to use these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting and gathering of plants, medicines and other materials, including some found nowhere else on earth. The object will be protected for the benefit of tribes, the public and future generations.
The new monument will be called the Grand canyon National Monument. The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition says that the monument name “Baj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam” in a way that resembles the Hopi language.
But the politics of Biden’s Western swing are broader than preservation. The administration has already invested in the economy and climate, and a lot of Americans do not know about it.
Asked whether this week’s trip is about advertising accomplishments, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, “We’re going to continue to do our jobs and continue to talk about it … And the hope is that we’ll get our message out.”
She said support for the president would continue to grow as the legislation is implemented. The Americans will start to see what they have been able to do in Washington, D.C.
Up First Briefing: Biden’s Grand Canyon National Monument; health tips from Japan. Source: Statehouse News Bureau. FDA new blood donation guidelines for bisexual men
Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. It will be delivered to your inbox and you will be able to listen to Up First for all the news of the day.
Ohioans head to the ballots today to decide whether to make it harder to change the state’s constitution. Issue 1 wants to raise the threshold of approval for future amendments to 60% from the simple majority. The outcome of today’s vote would affect a November vote on a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights. Statehouse News Bureau.
The American Red Cross has adopted new eligibility guidelines for giving blood that will allow gay and bisexual men to donate. The FDA guidelines focus on the individual risk factors rather than the sexual orientation. The new rules apply to anyone who has had new or multiple new partners in the last three months and has participated in anal sex.
Source: Up First Briefing: Biden’s Grand Canyon national monument; health tips from Japan.
A Conversation with Yuki Noguchi about the Implications of Being Obeyned in Japan and Living in the Light of Karachi
Yuki Noguchi was raised in the Midwest and travels a lot to Japan to visit her family. There, she’s struck by the amount of delicious, fresh food available. Japan and the U.S. have vastly different levels of overweight people. Noguchi looks into how Japanese society makes healthy living easier:
Poet Mustafa Zaidi’s death in Karachi, Pakistan in 1970 triggered a media frenzy. At the time, it was reported as a love affair gone bad — Zaidi was embroiled in a public affair with socialite Shehnaz Gul. Both of them were married with children. Two authors talk to Diaa about their work in a true crime show. In the 60s and 70s, a more disturbing story was uncovered by both Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood, who brought Karachi to life.