<
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/21/politics/biden-national-monument-spirit-mountain-nevada-climate/>
"President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially designated a new national monument
in Southern Nevada while speaking at a conservation event at the Interior
Department.
At more than 506,000 acres, the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is one of the
largest tracts of land to come under federal protection so far during Biden’s
presidency, preserving Nevada’s Spirit Mountain and the desert around it.
“It’s a place of reverence, a place of spirituality, a place of healing,” Biden
said Tuesday. “It will now be recognized for the significance it holds and be
preserved forever.”
Biden’s proclamation is a major victory for the surrounding Fort Mojave Indian
Tribe, which has been advocating for the monument’s creation for around three
decades.
“Avi Kwa Ame is the point of Mojave creation; it’s a very important and
integral part of our history and belief system,” Ashley Hemmers, the tribal
administrator for Fort Mojave, told CNN. “For us, that mountain is a living
landscape; it’s like a person. If something were to happen to it, it would be
like losing a loved one.”
During an emotional speech Tuesday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland highlighted
Interior’s work to honor and uplift tribal nations and their knowledge of the
land.
“We’re incorporating Indigenous knowledge and honoring tribes for their role in
stewarding our lands and waters since time immemorial,” Haaland said, tearing
up during her speech.
“I was thinking about how the federal government tried to erase Indigenous
people in so many ways; taking their lands, taking their children, taking their
lives and taking away bison that were so central to many tribal nations,” she
added, talking about a recent order she signed to restore American bison. “The
bison are still here here, and Indigenous people are still here.”
Biden also designated the Castner Range National Monument in Fort Bliss in West
Texas, which was a training site for the Army during World War II, the Korean
War and the Vietnam War."
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
