This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
My neighbor, a full-blooded Ute, relayed an experience he had recently that is worth reporting.
He and his sister were at Smith's Food and Drug, 845 E. 4500 South, when another shopper accidentally backed his car into my neighbor's Mercedes, causing minor damage.
The driver exited his car, apologized and got his insurance information to share with them. He volunteered to call his agent on his cellphone so he could immediately provide any additional information needed to fix the car.
As they were talking, a woman drove by and yelled out her window for my neighbor and his sister to go back to where they came from because "we don't want you here."
Not only was the other driver embarrassed, but a Unified Police Department officer who was walking over to the accident to offer assistance also apologized to the two Native Americans and expressed his disdain for the disrespect shown the pair whose ancestors were here long before any Europeans.
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Sharing the heritage • While he was saddened by the ignorance of the drive-by insulter, my neighbor, a longtime volunteer in the University of Utah athletic department, shared with me the kindness and understanding he and other full-blooded Native Americans receive through official policies of the federal government.
He has a card, issued to him for free, that is a lifetime pass to any U.S. national park.
The policy stems from the understanding that Native Americans' ancestors enjoyed and worked the lands long before they were designated national parks and that they have a right to be in those areas without cost.
Another gesture I find charming is the privilege given to Native Americans of having their ashes scattered in national parks if they so choose. Other than Native Americans, the National Park Service has a policy against the scattering of ashes inside its parks.
"The policy does prohibit the spreading of ashes in our parks, but we do make allowances for cultural and religious practices of Native Americans," said James Doyle, communications director of the NPS regional office in Denver. "We consider Native Americans as partners, and in some parks they have co-management responsibilities."
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A common-sense solution? • With all the controversy surrounding the proposed Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah, one of my readers, Laura Ellsworth, came across some information she believes might offer a reasonable solution.
Monument proponents argue that Native American artifacts are being defaced and destroyed in the Bears Ears area, and protection is needed.
Opponents counter that the monument designation would unreasonably keep people out of the area with spectacular views and prevent Navajos from practicing traditional functions such as wood gathering.
Some have devised scare tactics to divide the Native American community with phony fliers asserting that the Interior Department intends to shrink the Navajo reservation and fake invitations to a party to celebrate the Bears Ears monument that omit certain factions of the Navajo Nation.
Ellsworth guided me to information about the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. The Navajo Tribal Trust of the Navajo Nation owns and co-manages the land. About 40 Navajo families reside in the canyon. They live among not only the ruins of their descendants, but also those of other indigenous tribes.
To protect the privacy of these people, visitors aren't permitted to explore in the canyons without a Navajo guide or a park ranger. The only exception is the White House Ruin Trail. Convenient drives around the north and south rims offer spectacular views of the canyons.
There is no reason why Bears Ears couldn't follow that model, Ellsworth says. "Then they would get federal protections as well as more self-government."