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HILDALE, Utah — Hildale City Council approved a resolution June 7 in joining multiple municipalities throughout southern Utah and northern Arizona to oppose the proposed new Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument.
About two-thirds of the way through the meeting, council members agreed the recent proposal was a "federal land grab" and unanimously approved the five-page resolution in which the city would oppose the national monument, joining sister city Colorado City, Arizona.
"Many, many communities and counties have signed on to the resolution of this," Hildale City Manager Eric Duthie said.
Among those opposed to the monument are Kanab, Washington and Kane counties, as well as the town of Fredonia and Mohave County in Arizona and others.
The proposal for the new monument, introduced by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva on April 12, designates some 1.1 million acres of land in northern Arizona. The lawmakers presented the proposal with representatives of Arizona and Utah Native American tribes.
Supporting the proposal is the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, which includes the following tribes: Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kaibab Paiute, Las Vegas Band of Paiute, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Pueblo of Zuni and the Colorado River Indian tribes.
The monument's name combines the languages of the Havasupai and the Hopi. "Baaj Nwaavjo" means "where the tribes roam" while "I'tah Kukveni" translates to "our footprints."
Correction: An earlier version included a dateline of Hildale, Colorado instead of Hildale, Utah. That has been fixed.
