A MONUMENTAL DIVIDE

The question is how, when and to what degree. If confirmed by the Senate, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) would be the first Native American Cabinet secretary. By Bill Keshlear Four years ago today, Dec. 28, 2016, President Obama dodged a 1.9 million acre proposal of the Bears Ears Inter-tribal Coalition to create Bears Ears National Monument. Their proposal would've included full management of the monument by a tribal-appointed body, the Bears Ears Management Commission, to "set policy within the boundary of the proclamation, the management plan, and MOUs or MOAs ..." according to the proposal . It would've been precedent-setting, possibly beyond the legal scope of the monument's enabling act, the Antiquities Act. Obama, ever the moderate, shrunk the tribal proposal to 1.35 million acres - redrawing its boundary, scuttling the management-commission idea and adding an energy-development zone. It was not a clear win for Bears Ears National Monument advocates, although t

What does it mean? ( Rewrite, Nov. 28, 2020: Discovered by Utah wildlife biologists on Nov. 18, the obelisk was gone 10 days later – to the dismay of hundreds of tourists who had managed to discover its whereabouts thanks to the Internet and flocked to the site. ) By BILL KESHLEAR The story about the mysterious obelisk of San Juan County is everywhere. It made news from the South China Morning Post to The New York Times to Al-Jazeera and has drawn comments from all corners, including Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” according to The Salt Lake Tribune . For the global news outlets, the "Big Foots," it's morphed into a whodunit. What seemed to matter most, at least in the Salt Lake Tribune's account, was the artistic medium (minimalist sculpture) and installation process (deliberate), at least to historian Patricia Limerick, if not law enforcers or critics of creation of the national monument who fully expected this kind of stuff to happen and fully expect more to come

Last February, I asked “Who’s the Boss in Utah’s Bears Ears Country?”   The following  six-part essay, which I've been posting in installments, is an attempt to partially answer that question after a year of watching events unfold there. Road conditions on the reservation strip of San Juan County can be life-threatening. The Navajo Nation claimed ownership of the roads in 2007 and gradually phased-out its relationship with San Juan County to provide maintenance. (Governing) Part 1: Rule by resolution.   Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy took their oaths of office as commissioners a little over a year ago after what was described as a “historic” election. They immediately staked their claim to power by choosing to govern primarily through resolutions written by their longtime private attorney and approved without advice or informed consent of virtually anyone in the county. Part 2: The power of environmental nonprofits.  It’s hard to overestimate the influenc

Last February, I asked “Who’s the Boss in Utah’s Bears Ears Country?”   The following  six-part essay, which I've been posting in installments, is an attempt to partially answer that question after a year of watching events unfold there. This is part 5. A yard sign-style campaign message of the San Juan County Democratic Party on Highway 262 just inside the Aneth extension of the Navajo Nation was modified in advance of a special election on Nov. 5. The signs were positioned along highways in the southern part of the county. (Bill Keshlear) Part 1: Rule by resolution.   Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy took their oaths of office as commissioners a little over a year ago after what was described as a “historic” election. They immediately staked their claim to power by choosing to govern primarily through resolutions written by their longtime private attorney and approved without advice or informed consent of virtually anyone in the county. Part 2: The power of

Last February, I asked “Who’s the Boss in Utah’s Bears Ears Country?”   The following  six-part essay, which I am posting in installments, is an attempt to partially answer that question after a year of watching events unfold there. This is Part 4. A Gallup, New Mexico, newspaper's banner headline offers readers the perspectives of Davis Filfred, chair of Utah Diné Bikéyah, and Alastair Lee Bitsóí, UDB communications director, on November's special election in San Juan County, Utah. Opponents of Proposition 10, which asked voters about studying a possible change of government, slung a bit of mud in their campaign. The paper offered no other perspectives. (Note: Despite what the first subhead says, final decisions would’ve been placed in the hands of voters, not a “self-appointed committee.” The ability of county residents to determine the kind of government they’d prefer to live under is a fundamental right. The election was chock-full of misinformation such as this.)

Last February, I asked “Who’s the Boss in Utah’s Bears Ears Country?”   The following  six-part essay, which I've been posting in installments, is an attempt to partially answer that question after a year of watching events unfold there. This is part 3. Kelly Pehrson, former county administrator, testified before the State Records Committee in Salt Lake City in November. County Commission Chair Kenneth Maryboy, below, alleged publicly that Pehrson was insubordinate. Pehrson filed a GRAMA request seeking county records that would document those allegations. Because two searches ordered by the Committee turned up nothing, a reasonable conclusion at this point is that Maryboy just made up the whole thing. (Bill Keshlear)   Part 1: Rule by resolution.   Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy took their oaths of office as commissioners a little over a year ago after what was described as a “historic” election. They immediately staked their claim to power by choosing to gove