Arizona lawmakers have sued the Biden Administration earlier this year for protecting some one million acres of what used to be Native American land around the Grand Canyon.
The native tribes, who call the area their ancestral home, are now joining the federal government to fight back.
The Arizona Legislature, which reportedly supports opening more uranium mines in the now federally-protected area, argues that what the president did harms the state’s economic development and amounted to an ‘unlawful land grab.’
President Joe Biden signed a proclamation last August creating a national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, known in English as the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
At issue is the authority through which Biden protected the indigenous lands – the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the power to preserve unique natural and historic features throughout the country.
A section of the Grand Canyon. The lands around the canyon are now a protected federal monument to honor the tribes who lived there before they were forcibly removed during westward expansion
President Biden is seen on August 8, 2023, signing the proclamation that declared the 1 million acres of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni a national monument
This act was used to create the Statue of Liberty, Colorado‘s Canyon of the Ancients, among other things.
According to the state’s lawsuit, the Antiquities Act simply doesn’t apply to this gargantuan plot of land, which could be used for ‘for the mining of important natural resources, such as uranium.’
They claim that the mineral-rich native land could be ‘financially benefit Arizona’s state and local governments and schools.’
‘The Proclamation ignores all that,’ the suit continues. ‘Congress passed the Antiquities Act to protect just that: antiquities. It did not pass the law to allow the Biden Administration to declare every inch of federal land a federal forest, cut off from all but those it selects.’
Kim Quintero, a spokesperson for the Arizona Legislature, also argued that Congress is supposed to pass laws to protect federal land.
‘Under the Constitution, Congress is the policy making branch of government that decides how federal land is used,’ Quintero said. ‘Not presidential edicts.’
The three tribes whose ancestral land overlaps with the more than a million acres of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – the Hopi, Havasupai, and Navajo Nation – recently filed a motion to dismiss the Arizona Legislature’s lawsuit with the US District Court of Arizona.
Left, Kim Quintero is a spokesperson for the Arizona Legislature, which sued the Biden Administration over its decision to protect 1 million acres of land that could be used for economic development. Right, Matthew Campbell is serving as legal counsel for the Havasupai Tribe and the Hopi Tribe
Pictured: The interior of the Arizona State Capitol Building in Phoenix, where the legislature meets
The tribes point out that even though they want the same outcome as President Biden, the defendant, the US government can’t adequately represent them.
That’s especially the case since former President Donald Trump, who had lessened protections for national monuments during his term, has a chance of returning to the White House come January 2025.
‘When you think about Baaj Nwaanjo I’tah Kukveni and the creation of this monument, it’s an immensely important place for the tribal nations,’ said Matthew Campbell, a member of the Native Village of Gambell in Alaska, and legal counsel for the Havasupai Tribe and the Hopi Tribe.
‘The tribes fought very hard for the establishment of the monument and are here to defend it.’
Grist reports that indigenous people within the protected area still live on the lands and use them for hunting and praying.
Havasupai Tribe Chairwoman Bernadine Jones, who was sworn in as the leader of her tribe in December 2023, says her people ‘have never left the Grand Canyon.’
Bernadine Jones, pictured left, is sworn in as the new chairwoman of the Havasupai Tribe. She is a key figure among other tribal leaders fighting to preserve their ancestral land
The Grand Canyon pictured during the day. Ancestral lands around it that are now federally protected will be tied up in the courts for possibly years to come
‘We are still here. It is our home. It is our culture. It is our source of life and existence. We are committed to protecting it. Establishing protections for Baaj Nwaavjo was an important and long-sought-after step,’ Jones said.
Nine conservation organizations including the Grand Canyon Trust, Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club have also pledged their support in the fight to protect Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni.
‘The conservation groups are very much following the lead of the tribes,’ said Michael Toll, staff attorney for the Grand Canyon Trust.
As the case moves forward, Arizona lawmakers have hinted that if the court doesn’t rule in their favor, the plan is to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Campbell says it will likely take months before the tribes’ intervention motion will be ruled on and years before the lawsuit is completely settled.
So for the foreseeable future, the indigenous lands will remain solidly in the federal government’s hands.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .