SACRED SITES

As we begin National Prayer Week and people across this nation are praying at our sacred sites, we find ourselves praying heavily for preservation and protection.  I have been at many meetings and have listened to Navajo President Ben Shelly, speak about various issues. His voice may not be high in volume but his words speak volumes! There are many other tribal leaders like Three Affiliated's Tex Hall and Mashpee Wampanoag's Cedric Cromwell,  and Wampanoags of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Cheryl Andrews-Maltais who fight just to be heard... Who fight to retain what is left of sovereignty... 

By Carol Berry - Indian Country Today Media Network

Ben Shelly, Navajo Nation president, is apologetic yet determined when it comes to one of the country’s special places, a place he calls “very important.” He is one of the leaders in the fight to protect the San Francisco Peaks—sacred to more than 13 Southwestern tribes—from using treated sewage water for artificial snowmaking at the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort near Flagstaff.

His position echoes that of leaders across North America who have watched as sacred sites have been swallowed up or damaged by private, non-Native users, government-backed projects or vandalism, or who watch sites’ protection defined simply as an archaeological issue. Some leaders contacted by telephone were steadfast in a slow fight to maintain the sites for tribal survival and future generations.

Observances and ceremonies will be held across the country from June 17 through June 21 to mark the 2011 National Days of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places. The sites are scattered across the Plains states and the Midwest, through the Southwest into California, and resonate with a roll call of sacred names—Antelope Hills, Bear Butte, Black Mesa, Eagle Rock, Everglades, Klamath River, Mount Tenabo, Rainbow Bridge and countless others.