Tribal leaders and elected officials have renewed a push for a new national monument near Grand Canyon National Park. It builds on previous attempts to protect more than a million acres that are significant to several local tribes.
The proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument would establish permanent protections from large-scale uranium mining and other development. Its name combines the Havasupai translation of “where tribes roam” and the Hopi meaning of “our footprints.” The tribes along with the Navajo Nation, Kaibab band of Paiute Indians and others are urging President Joe Biden to make the designation under the Antiquities Act.
"We know this place intimately. The canyon is part of each and every Havasupai person. It is our home. It is our land and our water source and our very being. We simply cannot live without these clean waters," says Havasupai Vice Chair Edmond Tilousi.
The area adjacent to the Grand Canyon contains some of the highest-grade uranium ore in the country, but a temporary federal moratorium on new claims has prevented an uptick in mining. Tribes, conservationists and elected officials say uranium mining threatens water sources and the environment and have pushed for the area to receive national monument status for more than a decade.
It comes on the heels of Biden’s designation of the half-million-acre Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada, a sacred area to a dozen local tribes.
