Today, I share with you a piece of good news on the mining and Native justice fronts! In case you missed it, earlier this week, President Biden and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland of the Pueblo of Laguna traveled to Arizona to announce a new national monument designed to protect Native homelands in the Southwest. Afterward, Secretary Haaland appeared on PBS News Hour to discuss the monument’s significance and its impact for Indigenous people. I encourage you to watch that segment here.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland sat down with PBS News Hour to discuss the new national monument protecting Native homelands in the Southwestern United States.

We have rightly been critical of this administration and its failure to do more to stop mining in the Black Hills and at Peehee Mu-huh (Thacker Pass) in Nevada. Even as it has taken the most aggressive steps toward climate remediation that we’ve seen from the White House, the Biden administration is still falling short of its own climate goals. It’s just not enough. And, critically, Biden and Haaland must engage and adhere to the wishes of Indigenous communities on the frontlines of extractive industry — such as Standing Rock Nation with the Dakota Access pipeline and our Paiute and Shoshone relatives battling Lithium Americas at Thacker Pass.

Nonetheless, this near million-acre set-aside is a significant step in the right direction. We’re grateful that Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona — will prevent new mining leases in this sacred and beautiful place.

According the administration’s fact sheet, the monument will protect “thousands of cultural and sacred sites that are precious to Tribal Nations in the Southwest – including the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.”

Still, it’s up to all of us to hold the administration’s feet to the fire. Props to PBS anchor Amna Nawaz for pressing Secretary Haaland for an explanation of why many voters still feel a lack of satisfaction in the administration’s handling of the climate crisis. This national monument is significant and cause for gratitude and celebration — but it can’t stop there. Going forward, Biden and Haaland must be better and do more to support Native and environmental justice issues.

Wopila tanka — We deeply appreciate your care for Native homelands.
Chase Iron Eyes
Co-Director and Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project