Original article can be found at 听
Originally published on August 18, 2016 By Kirk Siegler
When rancher Cliven Bundy claimed his family of Mormon pioneers had 鈥渁ncestral鈥� rights to the federal land in and around Gold Butte, Nev., Vernon Lee scoffed.听
鈥淎s a native, and as the tribe that actually had that land granted by the federal government back in the 1800s, he really doesn鈥檛 got a right at all,鈥� Lee says. 鈥淚f anybody鈥檚 got a right it would be the Moapa Band of Paiutes.鈥澨�
鈥淕et in line鈥� is what William Anderson, former chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, says of the current take-back-federal-lands movement.听
Lee, who is a former tribal councilman, is sitting on a lawn chair in the shade of his mobile home on the Moapa River Reservation.听
An air conditioner hanging from a side window hums. He swats away flies as he recalls how the tribe鈥檚 land once included all of Gold Butte, but was later shrunk tenfold by the U.S. government. Today the reservation is just this small sliver of desert north of Cliven Bundy鈥檚 place and adjacent to a coal-fired power plant.听
鈥淭o be quite candid I wish they would give it all back, but realistically that probably won鈥檛 happen,鈥� Lee says.听
So the Southern Paiute tribes in Nevada are proposing another plan. Now that Bundy and many of his militia followers have been arrested by federal authorities, they sense a small window of opportunity before President Obama leaves office. They want him to designate Gold Butte as a national monument.听
For Vernon Lee of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, a national monument designation for Gold Butte would be the next best thing to having the U.S. government return the land to his people.听
鈥淲e want to protect the lands, we want to protect the animals and we want our sacred sites protected,鈥� Lee says. 鈥淩ight now the best thing we can think of is to go on the side of this creation of a monument.鈥澨�
Vandalism of sacred sites听
Such a designation would be a bittersweet end to an especially rough few years for the tribes. After the armed standoff on the Bundy Ranch, the federal government stopped managing Gold Butte entirely due to safety concerns. Until recently, .听
Kenny Anderson, cultural director for the Las Vegas Paiute tribe, recounts a recent walk through Gold Butte with a group of elders.听
He noted that the Bundy family鈥檚 cows are still trespassing in the area.听
鈥淭here was petroglyphs that they were walking on, there was cow patties everywhere,鈥� Anderson says. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 saying, dang, what the heck?鈥澨�
It鈥檚 not just the cows that Anderson and other tribal members are concerned about. They鈥檝e documented evidence of people shooting at ancient petroglyphs carved into rocks, theft of pottery and arrowheads. There are photos of off-road vehicle tracks cutting across plants native people have gathered for centuries to make paint and baskets.听
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 because of they weren鈥檛 told about things like this or maybe they weren鈥檛 concerned with what history is,鈥� Anderson says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a mystery.鈥澨�
Thursday in Las Vegas, to issue a more detailed report of what they say is extensive damage and vandalism in Gold Butte. The event followed a recent announcement that the federal Bureau of Land Management has resumed its field work in the remote area east of Las Vegas, after a more than two year absence.听
Seizing the moment听
In the end, the irony is that the Bundy standoff may end up helping the tribes鈥� cause. There鈥檚 a lot more public attention being paid to these historical lands than in recent memory. And not just in Nevada, either. There鈥檚 a plan to to tribes in Montana. In Utah, five tribes that want to create a massive, have the ear of the Obama Administration.听
National monument designations that bypass Congress are hugely controversial. University of Colorado historian Patty Limerick says it鈥檚 not uncommon for a president to wait until the very last minute.听
鈥淏ill Clinton and his Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit had quite a realistic recognition that the Democrats were not going to be carrying Utah in the 1990s,鈥� Limerick says. 鈥淪o they could go ahead with national monuments, whether or not the people of Utah thought that was a cool idea or not.鈥澨�
William Anderson, a former chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribe, is leading an effort to get the remote Gold Butte area permanently protected. Parts of the land are considered sacred by local tribes.听
In this presidential election year, the politics in a state like Nevada are even more sensitive. And that has a lot of tribal activists like Vernon Lee feeling pessimistic.听
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody wants to move and do anything for Indian Country because it鈥檚 not a popular thing to do,鈥� Lee says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 all about the votes.鈥澨�
Lee says in Indian Country, justice is slow to come, if it comes at all.听