The war in Ukraine has made us think of the great value we attach to place. To our homes, cities, states and country that makes a geographic area worth fighting for and protecting. But it is more than just people, resources, ideologies and territories that are at stake here. It is also a sense of identity and purpose grown from generations of living in a place people call home.
Spotted Tail, 19th century leader of the Brule Sioux, said, “This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things … This war has come from robbery – from the stealing of our land.”
A sense of place and our experience and history of it are especially important to people of faith. Wisdom texts and scripture are replete with intimate references to land and nature connecting us to God. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” (Psalm 23:2) Or Rumi: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which I am an active member, our short history is long on the importance of place. A place to worship as we believe, to form community and flourish — within the inspiration and cooperation of the land from which we always depend upon for our very lives. The early Latter-day Saints tried repeatedly to create such a place only to be violently forced to relocate repeatedly — until they took possession of Ute tribal land, a place the natives called Utah, or “people of the mountains.”
The war over the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments is not as sudden and dramatic as that of Ukraine. In a way, it began when the pioneers entered the valley. Now, these contested areas are often framed as the federal government and environmentalists taking land from our local rural folks. They are trying to restore the archaeological, cultural and religious properties of Indigenous peoples. Could this not help them heal for what was unfairly taken so long ago?
The Hopi Tribe calls the Bears Ears land Hoon’Naqvut. For the Navajo, it is known as Shash Jaa’. The Ute Tribe calls it Kwiyagatu Nukavachi. For the Pueblo of Zuni, it is Ansh An Lashokdiwe. In each language, the words translate as “Bears Ears.” The fact that each of these tribes had a name for this area says much about its universal importance to all of them.
The history of our treatment of Indigenous people is abysmal. In hindsight, we see that clearly. It wasn’t so clear to our forefathers in their day. Can we learn from that and what is now happening in Ukraine? Are we willing to consider that not restoring these lands to our Indigenous sisters and brothers can be akin to repeating a hostile takeover? That we are reducing their religious freedoms, desecrating their sacred sites, and destroying their history and culture? Is this Christian?
The Book of Mormon illustrates the disastrous costs when land and resources are fought over. Yet early on there was a singular example of the people of Nephi leaving their fields and homes and moving elsewhere when threatened by Nephi’s brothers and their people. Avoiding war was more important than their property.
Given all the abuse, broken promises and even genocide that our Native Americans have borne at the hands of their invaders, it seems to us that we should do all within our power to repent, reconcile and respect their wishes. The Hopi, Navajo, Ute and Pueblo tribes have all signed on to the historic consortium of sovereign tribal nations united to conserve the Bears Ears.
As a Latter-day Saint and Christian, I encourage us all — but especially those who believe in the teachings of Jesus — to do everything possible to ensure the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments are not encroached on or extorted. Like Utahns standing up for Ukraine, Utah should also be standing up for our Indigenous sisters and brothers to preserve their homeland in these two monuments.
Jay Griffith
Jay Griffith is a former chair of the East Millcreek Community Council and manager/facilitator of ThinkAgain-FaithAgain.life
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