DECOLONIZING YOUR NEWSFEED
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The road to Chaco Canyon was too rutted for the Lummi House of Tears Carvers to haul their 25-foot totem pole
there last Sunday. Instead, they chose to honor the sacred Pueblo site in a parking lot about an hours drive east at the Counselor Chapter House on the Navajo Nation, northwestern New Mexico.
The weight of the moment wasn't lost on David Toledo of Jemez Pueblo - standing in solidarity with the Navajo for this one occasion, to protect the greater region from future oil and gas development.
"This isn't a Navajo versus Pueblo thing," Toledo told me, a subtle reference to centuries-old acrimony that's lingered in the region ever since the Navajo raided the Anasazi, their Pueblo "enemies," back in the 1700s.
"We're all in this together to protect our land," he said.
Toledo is a former governor of Jemez and the current secretary for the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG). He described the united front that day as emblematic of the totem pole journey, itself - a collective message to President Joe Biden to address the climate crisis with
Indigenous rights top of mind.
From Washington State to Washington, D.C., a coalition of Native Nations have aligned with the Red Road to DC: a Totem Pole Journey for the Protection of Sacred Places, a call to spotlight threats on Indigenous holy lands by dams, mines, pipelines and on
and on. For Chaco Canyon, a National Historical Park and UNESCO World Heritage site, it's fracking that has leaders like Toledo lobbying for
passage of a bill that would create a 10-mile buffer around the site from future oil and gas production. "If we had our way, it would be 15 miles," he said, recognizing the need for compromise.
Historically, Indigenous voices have been altogether absent from the conversation whenever decisions have been made about the fate of their ancestral lands. Last year when the Trump administration announced plans to add between 2300 and 3100 new oil and gas wells in the Greater Chaco region, the Bureau of Land Management declined to extend the public comment period requested by Pueblo leaders and others reeling from the
pandemic.
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The crossroads of an ancient network of roads at the mesatop of Chaco Canyon. (Jenni Monet)
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After meeting Toledo at the totem pole gathering, I hiked up to Pueblo Alto, the highest point among the network of structures built at Chaco, and gazed north. The vast mesatop, in many ways, looks like it did centuries ago - undeveloped, despite holding one of the most productive oil and gas basins in the United States.
By week's end, I found myself at the foot of the Blackfeet Nation's most holiest site, the Badger Two Medicine, couched between what is today the Glacier National Monument and the reservation. Like the Pueblos proposal to protect Chaco, the Blackfeet are also backing a bill that would protect their sacred site - the source of their creation story - after decades of legal battles with the oil and gas industry.
I met up with John Murray, the tribe's Historic Preservation Officer, while I was passing through. He told me he'll be in D.C. when the Lummi carvers arrive there on Thursday to present their totem pole to Joe Biden with a single demand: Free, Prior & Informed Consent from affected Native Nations whose lands, water, and resources are at risk.
I'm writing this from Blackfeet Country, Canada - the most grounded sense that these lands have and always will be Indigenous, regardless of colonial borders. As I mentioned a few newsletters ago, writing on the road was sure to bring a few bumps along the way, including mild delays. I so appreciate you being here for the ride. I
should be up to Alaska and back up to speed by next week's newsletter so stay tuned.
Dawaa'e,
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Total stops at sacred sites along the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey: 10
Estimated age in years of the red cedar used to carve the totem pole: 400
Total weight in pounds of the totem pole: 5,000
Exact number of Native-led fights the Lummi carvers are backing: 20
Total in Alaska: 4
Total acreage proposed to protect the Badger Two Medicine: 130K
Number of Native Nations connected to the Lower Snake River: 13
Estimated number of sacred sites within Bears Ears National Monument: 100K
Maximum number of new oil and gas wells slated for Chaco Canyon: 3100
Total miles of buffer zone proposed to protect Greater Chaco from drilling: 10
Amount rejected by Oceti Sakowin for "compensation" of the stolen Black Hills: $1.3B
Total recent fines against Dakota Access Pipeline over safety violations: $1.3B
Number of days Anishinaabe Water Protector Winona LaDuke spent in jail: 3
Amount paid by Atkin Co. Sheriff for assalt rifle ahead of Line 3 construction: $725
Total times "free, prior, and informed consent" is mentioned in the UNDRIP: 6
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The status quo across Indian Country is that infrastructure projects often begin without proper consultation, forcing Native Nations into the courts and the halls of Congress to correct what is bound by treaty law: engagement with affected Indigenous Peoples prior to pursuing a dam, mine, or pipeline.
Add your voice on the Red Road to DC
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Join the call on President Biden to issue an executive order directing all federal agencies to require the engagement and consent of affected Native Nations prior to a infrastructure project being approved.
For more about Free, Prior, and Informed Consent as spelled out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, watch this short explainer from my former professor.
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“Your newsletter is the highlight of my week, each and every week."
Eric, the Internet
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| Eric's amazing. He bought me five coffees to praise Indigenously. You can help keep this newsletter caffeinated, too, right here. It goes a long way. Dawaa'e.
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