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SALT LAKE CITY — There continues to be some disagreement among Native American tribes in Utah over the proposed creation of the Bears Ears National Monument, although tribes from outside San Juan County are unified in support.
A recent vote by members of the Utah Tribal Leaders Association in Cedar City endorsed a resolution in favor of a presidential designation of the 1.9 million-acre monument, with six of seven tribes encouraging Obama's use of the Antiquities Act.
May Preston, the San Juan Southern Paiute representative, voted against the resolution, which was approved by Davis Filfred, the 23rd Navajo Nation Council delegate.
A press release issued by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition said Filfred represents four of the seven Utah Navajo chapter houses that are in favor of the monument's creation.
"I stand with my people in full support of the Bears Ears National Monument," Filfred said. "Bears Ears National Monument is the path toward healing the past and protecting Chief Manuelito's birthplace and descendants of Kaayelii lands for future generations."
Manuelito was a Navajo war chief who in the late 1800s fought against U.S. Army Col. Kit Carson over the forced relocation of thousands of tribal members from their land.
The Bears Ears region in southeastern Utah — named for twin buttes that rise more than 8,700 feet in elevation along the edge of the Dark Canyon Plateau — is home to thousands of archaeological sites many tribes say they want protected from looting with a monument designation.
Many local Navajo, however, say that tying up the lands with a new national monument would bar them from traditional uses at Bears Ears, including wood gathering and sacred rituals.
The coalition wants a monument that would be managed with a unique leadership team made up of Native American representatives to ensure continued access.
Monument critics say those uses can't be guaranteed should a designation happen.
Earlier this month, on a tour of the state's five national parks, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, visited briefly in San Juan County with Native Americans on both sides of the issue.
Hatch and other opponents to a new monument for the region say protecting less acreage — 1.2 million acres — via a National Conservation Area would accomplish the same goal but be less restrictive.
The coalition insists the monument has the unified support of tribes. Tribes that voted last week in favor of the resolution include the Ute Mountain Ute, which has some members in San Juan County; the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation; the Skull Valley Band of Goshute; and the Confederate Tribes of Goshute.
Rebecca Benally, a Navajo tribal member and San Juan County commissioner, said local Navajo do not want the monument designated.
The Utah Legislature met in a special session in May to endorse a resolution opposing the monument's creation.
