(Updated Dec. 7) The Nov. 8 election closes a chapter in the four-year saga of Bears Ears activists Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy as the first Native Americans in Utah to govern as a majority on a county commission. Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes (Bill Keshlear) The two Democrats lost bids to keep their San Juan County (Utah) Commission seats – tenures enabled in large part by a federal judge who in 2017 declared that the districts in San Juan County disenfranchised Native American voters and ordered them redrawn. The new lines were drawn to ensure Navajo majorities on the commission - or at least a fair chance at electing majorities. In addition, Maryboy and Grayeyes got a boost from the powerful Navajo Nation Human Rights Council. And Salt Lake City-based Democrats poured in thousands of dollars, even creating and funding a nonprofit called Rural Utah Project, or RUP. It successfully ran what, in effect, was the candidates' 2018 campaign and was successful. It mo
It's as if a train were rumbling through spectacular wildlands, destroying everything in its path – a dark vision embraced through time by indigenous spiritual leaders. Aboard the train are rich and influential newcomers who ravage an ancient way of life and the ecosystem every living thing depends on. They not only enjoy the ride, they stoke the engine for profit and tell us it’s a good thing. They call it "progress."