On June 3, 1924, the Gila National Forest became the nation’s first designated wilderness area, predating the Wilderness Act by four decades. 2024 marked the 100th year of the nation’s first Wilderness.

To meet the crisis of our time and help address past wrongs, we need bold action from decision makers.

By Clark Tenakhongva

This story was originally published by High Country News

I write with a steadfast commitment to Hopi–the land, animals and people that have been in so-called Arizona since life began. We Hopi claim responsibility not just for Arizona life, but for biodiversity throughout the world, endowed to us by the Creator. In my political and nonprofit positions, I’ve worked to protect Bears Ears National Monument, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, and Chaco Canyon. In my current role as a consultant on land protection campaigns with WildEarth Guardians, I am engaged in the Greater Gila campaign, protecting Hopi ancestral homelands in the Gila National Forest and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. Unrelenting uranium mining, fracking, livestock grazing and recreational abuse have decimated the land as well as our sacred sites. Tribes, nonprofits and community members cannot afford to backslide during this second Trump administration, and we cannot give away our power by waiting four years.

Through my work with environmental nonprofits and elected officials, I have witnessed small strides toward LandBack, tribal sovereignty and less extractive management of public lands. While I am certainly grateful for actions to protect places sacred to the Hopi and other tribes, I am deeply concerned about this second Trump administration, and the disturbing pattern of Democrats crafting campaigns that are disconnected from the poorest in this country–in rural America and on tribal lands. To address the polycrises of the current moment, we need bold action from decision makers. Standing in the middle of the road will only continue to perpetuate the harms of colonization.

Tao’ Ma’ (3 -52), Clark Tenakhongva, from his 2006 album, Hoat’Ve’La–Traditional Songs from the Hopi (Canyon Records)

The founding of the United States, and its subsequent accrual of wealth and power, were built on slavery and genocide. Most Native people have never fully recovered from this, continuing to live without access to running water, concerned about our water rights in general, and well aware that the federal government could break treaties at any time–a practice that has never stopped or been fully remediated. We do not need more apologies or statements. We need meaningful, direct action–legislative and community-led, before the Trump administration begins eviscerating the work we have done.

My work with WildEarth Guardians relies on decolonization and addressing past harms–including those done by the conservation movement–to ensure they are not repeated in the future. From the Native perspective, we have always cared about the land, through common teachings, oral history, ceremony and relationships. From the nonprofit perspective, conservation has historically been rooted in science and law. Steps towards honoring and uplifting traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom through co-stewardship, co-management and LandBack efforts must not be abandoned.

Courageous allyship from our public servants–congressional and state officials alike–in dismantling an oligarchic takeover of both parties is imperative. We invite you to stand arm in arm with us in a bold renunciation of campaign contributions from entities that enable genocide (both at home and abroad), empower the fossil fuel industry, and generally create more poverty, climate change, racism and extinction. It will not be possible to achieve the continuation of life while also prioritizing re-election through corporate contributions and political vanity.

‘It is my hope that if elected officials, community members and agencies truly act out the values they purport, we can start down a path of healing.’ Clark Tenakhongva was born in Keams Canyon, Arizona in 1957 and raised in the Third Mesa village of Hotevilla. His father is of the Corn and Water Clans. He is a U.S. Army veteran, the former vice chairman of the Hopi Nation, and former co-chairman of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. Clark is a respected traditional cultural practitioner and has a lifetime of experience singing Hopi songs. He has been invited to sing on stages around the world, has four recordings on Canyon Records, and has won numerous awards for both his music and katsina carvings. Clark served in the United States Army for 10 years and is forever committed to the preservation of Hopi culture through art and music. He was elected as Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribe in November of 2017 and served for four years. He is now actively involved in protecting cultural sites like Grand Canyon, the Confluence, and Bears Ears National Monument.

‘Comanche,’ Clark Tenakhongva, from his 2007 album, Po’li–Traditional Songs Of The Hopi (Canyon Records)

‘Thank You My Fathers,’ Clark Tenakhongva, from his 2003 album, Hear my song, Hear My Prayer–Songs from the Hopi Mesas (Canyon Records)

To protect our sacred lands and, at minimum, hold the line on what tribes have fought for (and won), there must be a bold alternative to Trump’s authoritarianism.To meet these trying times, members of Congress, federal and state agencies, and state legislatures must:

• Protect and defend the existing boundaries of the most vulnerable national monuments, including Bears Ears, Ancestral Footprints, Grand Staircase, and others targeted by the Trump administration.

• Recognize that water is life. Contamination of our rivers and streams and underground aquifers are a perpetual problem. Hopi people have significant rates of cancer due to uranium poisoning.

• Congress must reform the archaic 1872 Mining Law, which gives free reign to corporations (many of them foreign) to exploit our lands and poison our bodies.

• Congress must also ratify and fund the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2024. This urgent matter has already cost our tribes millions of dollars as we’ve searched for an agreement. Securing these water rights is potentially the most important thing Congress can do to immediately benefit the Hopi.

• The U.S. government must fully fund agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. Lack of capacity and law enforcement has led to increased vandalism, looting and illegal ATV use, as well as recreational overuse. The Schultz Fire, in the Coconino National Forest, was started by an abandoned campfire. The 15,000-acre burn destroyed much of our sacred Douglas Fir that we use for ceremonies, and resulted in a new, bureaucratic process for Hopi with the U.S. Forest Service. Permits are now required in a place our ancestors had gathered freely for centuries. This is one example of how an underfunded, understaffed agency, coupled with a push for more tourism, had devastating and far-reaching consequences.

• The Biden administration’s Executive Order 13175 mandates that federal agencies consult with tribes regarding land management. Congress should uphold this mandate and, in fact, increase contact with tribal governments and communities in order to honor all perspectives. This mandate has not yet resulted in deep or meaningful changes. Support and directives for agencies to meaningfully engage with tribes, even under a second Trump administration, is critical.

• As a veteran, I support our troops and responsible military behavior. But low-level military flights over current and ancestral Hopi lands have resulted in poor nesting conditions and survival outcomes for golden eagles and hawks. Military flights have increased over the tribal and ancestral lands of the White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Tohono O’odham, Hopi and others. We ask that Congress continue to hold the Department of Defense accountable for reckless overflights, dropping flares (which have caused forest fires) and dropping chaff (toxic military training material which contains PFAS and other contaminants).

It is my hope that if elected officials, community members and agencies truly act out the values they purport, we can start down a path of healing. I close this letter with a sincere prayer and a reminder that life is precious.

Published at High Country News, January 29, 2025, republished by permission.