Thank you to Laurie Works (@bornsirius) for sharing her experience below. The names above are the Hopi, Yavapai, and Diné words for the Grand Canyon respectively. If you know the name of this place in Hualapai, Paiute, or any other Grand Canyon area language, please share!

“When I was hiking in the Grand Canyon this past weekend, there was rarely a moment that went by without me being aware that I walked on stolen land. The canyon echoes with the voices of those who were on the land before us. The army moved the Paiute, the Navajo, and the Cerbat off of the canyon lands in 1882. For thousands of years before that, other Puebloan tribes were on the land.

I was able to walk on this land because my ancestors stole it from others, with bloodshed and violence. If I am not aware of this, I am in danger of repeating it. In fact I think many white people do repeat it, in how they go to the canyon and hear the echoes of the past and claim it for their own. I see it in the claiming of native spirituality and colonizing it for themselves. I have to be so aware so I do not do this, so that I honor my connection with this land and at the same time don’t dishonor everyone who was there before me.

May I always remember and honor that #publiclandisnativeland.

Also, if you think this isn’t happening still, check out Save the Confluence, who just won a victory of keeping native land rights for the little Colorado and Colorado River Confluence, a sacred site for many of the native tribes. A capitalist organization was trying to build a team across the Confluence and Save the Confluence was able to stop them.”