than a dozen tribal nations have lived, gathered, preyed on these lands. but to some 100 years ago they were forced out. that very act of preserving the grand canyon as a national park was used to deny indigenous people full access to their homelands to the places where they hunted and gathered, to a precious, sacred ancestral sites. they fought for decades to be able to return to these lands, to protect these lands from mining and development, declare them of contamination, to preserve their shared legacy for future generations. today s actions are going to protect and preserve that history along with these high plateaus and deep canyons. the majestic, great cliffs over 300 million years old. older than the oldest dinosaur ever known, essential to the creation stories of so many tribal people, so many tribal nations.
for decades, my next guest has been part of the fight to get environmental justice for the tribal nations who were forced out of these lands. she has been a witness before congress, a delegate to the united nations in geneva, switzerland, and she presented the of us to pay uranium case in 31 years ago. indeed, this has been a long time coming. joining me now is carletta tilousi, a member of the havasupai tribe. carletta tilousi, thank you very much for being here. please explain to folks watching why these lands are so important and what it means to you to see them become a national monument. thank you this land is very important to many tribes in the southwest, 13 tribes and this is where we believe in our creation stories that we emerged from and when we pass away and leave this earth, that
very much for being here. please explain to folks watching why these lands are so important and what it means to you to see them become a national monument. thank you. this land is very important to many tribes in the southwest, 13 tribes and this is where we believe in our creation stories that we emerged from and when we pass away and leave this earth, that is where we will be returning. that is how important this place is. earlier this week you told one report, i m gonna quote here, i m sad that my relatives who worked on this have passed on and aren t here, but i know they are here in spirit. carletta tilousi, what else would you like to tell your relatives about the sacrifice it took to get this done? a lot of people sacrificed their time. this was a grassroots effort that begun in 1984 by my tribal elders and they never wavered and they stood firm and we continue to voice our
plateaus and deep canyons. the majestic, great cliffs over 300 million years old. older than the oldest dinosaur ever known, essential to the creation stories of so many tribal people, so many tribal nations. for decades, my next guest has been part of the fight to get environmental justice for the tribal nations who were forced out of these lands. she has been a witness before congress, a delegate to the united nations in geneva, switzerland, and she presented the of us to pay uranium case in salzburg, austria, 31 years ago. indeed, this has been a long time coming. joining me now is carletta tilousi, a member of the havasupai tribe. carletta tilousi, thank you