The National Park Service is pushing back against media reports that it removed exhibits at the Grand Canyon referring to the culture and history of Indigenous peoples.
In a statement to KNAU, a Grand Canyon National Park spokesperson didn’t deny that signs referring to the historical removal of Havasupai tribal members from the Grand Canyon were taken down.
But officials say the park isn't erasing Indigenous history or disengaging from Tribal partnerships.
"Assertions that the Department of the Interior or the National Park Service is erasing Tribal history or disengaging from Tribal partnerships at the Grand Canyon are inaccurate and misrepresent long-standing, ongoing collaboration with Tribal Nations," the statement reads.
Mindy Riesenberg is with the Grand Canyon Conservancy, the non-profit partner of the park.
She says signs were removed for unrelated and routine maintenance, but are in fact under review by the Trump administration.
“I'm just as worried as everybody else is about whether or not the Department of the Interior is going to ask the park to change language. But truth is, we have not been asked to take anything down as of yet,” Riesenberg says. "These removals were because the items were damaged or outdated or worn, or otherwise in need of replacement. So they were not removed in response to [the administration’s review].”
Riesenberg says the signage will be restored unless the review determines the signs don't line up with the administration’s priorities.
The Washington Post first reported that the park had removed signs after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order last year to ensure national park signs and materials “accurately reflect American history and not partisan ideology.”
The move followed an executive order by President Donald Trump to “restore truth and sanity to American history.”
