2023-08-09 09:51:00
President Joe Biden’s decision is the culmination of a lobbying effort by a dozen tribes with historical ties to the region and advocated for its monument status. It will be called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. Baaj nwaavjo (BAAHJ – NUH-WAAHV-JOH) means “where indigenous peoples roam” in Havasupai language, and i’tah flowers (EE-TAH – KOOK-VENNY) means “our ancestral footprints” in the Hopi language.
The name is generally translated as Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
“Being a part of this announcement means the world to me,” says Home Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary. “I am filled with gratitude for President Biden’s dedication to indigenous peoples and his understanding of our unbreakable ties to our ancestral lands” (Haaland is a member of the Laguna People, who are not one of the tribes linked to this site).
“After the creation of Grand Canyon National Park in 1919, the Havasupai were evicted from their land,” Haaland explains. “Their history is similar to that of many Southwestern tribes who trace their origins to the Grand Canyon and its surrounding mesas and tributaries. These special places are not just a stepping stone on the road to the Grand Canyon; they are sacred and significant and deserve protection.”
The memorial will include a number of sacred sites, including Red Butte, which the Havasupai consider their birthplace and call Red Butte-Wii’i Gwdwiisa. They traditionally camped there in winter, before the US government forcibly relocated them.
“Our creation stories say that Red Butte-Wii’i Gwdwiisa belongs to Mother Earth, and we believe that if you mine there it will pierce the lungs of Mother Earth,” says Carletta Tilousi, coordinator of the Greater Tribal Coalition. Cannon and member of the Havasupai tribe. “My family is descended from the resettlers,” she adds. “My grandmother’s sisters, my aunts, used to talk about how they were treated… It was always said that guns were pointed at them, so it was a very scary and hostile time for my people.”
In April 2023, a coalition that included the 12 tribes with historical ties to the Grand Canyon unveiled their proposal for this national monument at a press conference in which Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema and Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva , both Democrats, also spoke in support of the initiative.
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