On May 27, the Department of Justice released a legal opinion siding with the president’s desire to strip certain sites of their national monument status, overriding the Antiquities Act and putting sacred Indigenous lands at risk.
Las Vegas Paiute Tribe member Fawn Douglas goes to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to connect with her ancestors. As an artist, she fuels her creativity there. On an April hike in Red Rock, Douglas carried water, tobacco, and a knife, as she typically does. She uses tobacco to give back to the land after foraging for medicine and tea. On the trail, she spotted native plants and herbs that she was looking for.
Today, federal protections, such as national parks or monument designations, keep some significant Indigenous homelands from being developed. Red Rock is one example in Southern Nevada. Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is another. One that’s proposed for such protection is the East Las Vegas National Monument, located between Las Vegas and Lake Mead.
Yet under the current system, all it takes to undo decades of work to protect these sites is the action of one presidential administration.