Returning To My Ancestral Homeland . . .by Janet Wilcox

I get it.  I can understand the connection that members of the Arizona Coalition tribes have with the land within the proposed Bears Ears National Monument. The ancient lands of the Anasazi are part of their heritage with thousands of those sites located south of the mountains, in the Cedar Mesa area. Archaeologists continue to speculate why they left this area. Perhaps survival was their primary goal, perhaps drought, or visions of a better place.  However, this important land is only a small part of the expansive 1.9 million acres they are asking for.

I also understand why descendants of early Mormon converts make pilgrimages to Nauvoo, the scene of both miraculous and horrific events in the history of early LDS church members.  Over 20,000 members were driven by mobs from a land they hoped would be a safe haven in Illinois. Their leaders were killed, and pioneers suffered terribly from the harshness of the emigration to Utah. Thus Nauvoo became a sacred and significant site to these people.

Caernarfon Castle in N. Wales with Bowen relatives,
Geraint and Zonia

When we traveled to Wales and Scotland in 2001 to visit the ancient lands of my forebearers, I felt a connection also; a reverence for the land, and a keen interest in the history of those countries and people.  I visited a little 300-year-old cottage of my third great grandfather in Wales, which was still being used.  I saw the battlefield where William Wallace and Robert de Bruce led the Scottish resistance against the British for land and freedom 700 years ago.  I felt connected and proud of them for their desperate fight for their lands, which they eventually won.

We visited the coal mines of Wales where several of my ancestors had to work in order to put food on the table.  I was saddened by the beautiful canyons filled with refuse from the coal mines; slate piles as high as the canyon walls.  Many of my ancestors died in those mines.  Working conditions were atrocious, but those were times when survival was paramount, not niceties.  Eventually. conditions in Wales forced them to seek a better life in a new country, and they left, eventually ending up in Malad, Idaho, my birthplace.  Like the Ancient Ones, they too sought a better place to live, a refuge from an unfriendly environment and a better life.

What I don’t get.  The early Celtic culture goes back to approximately 1200 BC, about the same era as the early basket makers of the Four Corners area.  There has been a huge evolution within both cultures over the past 3000 plus years.  Even understanding that commonality, I still cannot picture myself, or any other transplanted descendent of either group, presumptuously claiming they now have the right to go back to said homeland and demand that changes be made on how they are managing the land. This is what is happening in San Juan County, as tribal members from Arizona and Colorado, are clamoring to have 1.9 million acres made into a National Monument to “protect their lands.” They are petitioning President Obama to designate yet another National Monument, to put in his trophy case of public acquisitions.

We are going to Wales again next month. Should we form a coalition of descendants and propose a National Monument?  After all, I will be traveling with a large group who have a vested interest in those ancestral lands dating back centuries.  NO, we would never consider such an “outlandish” action.  Those beautiful Welsh lands are now either owned or used by others. Centuries have passed since we had a stake in them. This is their land now. We do not have the right to usurp their authority, or tell them how to protect and care for the land.  Neither you nor I may like the results of some of the things done in our ancestral homelands, but once your ancestors and mine left, they were no longer stewards of the land.  They gave up that right when they left. If I really love my ancestry and I want to protect the land, I will use my resources to HELP the local stewards make changes, not demand they turn management over to me.

Scottish custom of piping in the haggis.
Glasgow, Scotland 2001

What we can do is come and visit often; enjoy the beauty of the land, leave it better than we find it, and be appreciative guests on their public lands.  We will not vandalize, nor denigrate their lifestyle, religion, or bring up the sins of their fathers. We will celebrate the joy of being there in the land of our fathers. We may even have ceremonies and spiritual experiences while we are in Wales.  And I say to the Coalition tribes, come to Bears Ears and do likewise. Be a good guest. Get to know the people in this “foreign country.”  Learn and share with them. 

 Don’t come as an enemy in the night, with deception and ill will in your heart.  Mother Earth will bless all those who approach this land with "ho'zho' '" in their heart as well as in their actions.