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.
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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.
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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.
