Sens. Romney and Lee recently criticized the restoration of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments on the basis that native tribes were opposed to them. This is false, not that truth matters to them.
Indeed, five tribes support Biden’s restoration — Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Indians. The Romney-Lee politicians, the rich white ones, have never lived on an Indian reservation.
I lived on the Navajo reservation for six years when I taught environmental science at Navajo Technical University. My friends, associates and students were Navajo and other tribes. My wife is a nurse practitioner for Indian Health Services on the Navajo reservation. She lost health care professionals and Navajo friends to COVID.
We have insight grounded in hard reality about what our indigenous friends deserve.
The bone-cracking poverty, lack of electricity and water, morgues with no space, students that have no lunch money; they all reflect a retribution long overdue.
I am glad my friends will have their monuments. I can tell you all or most of the indigenous people I knew and know now, would support what Biden did. And all or most of them recognize Romney and his spineless white friends for what they are – hollow political prostitutes devoid of courage and ethics, for sale at pennies on the dollar.
Bill Mader, Kanab