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So, I’ve been doing a lot of research about the Department of the Interior, lately - a lot of rabbit holes - and naturally, my process of discovery has centered on the land. The DOI, after all, is responsible for overseeing roughly a fifth of America, the majority of which is considered public land. So when David Treuer’s essay released this week in The Atlantic about an idea - “Return the National Parks to the Tribes” - it felt timely. But this weekend’s newsletter isn’t just about the national parks - which by the way I’m always surprised to hear how so many people haven’t been to a national park. (More on that, later…) But what I find interesting is the conversation lately about land, itself. It feel as though it just keeps building; in a way that feels different - at least in America. As someone who’s had the good fortune to experience Indigenous communities in different parts of the world, it’s pretty profound to see the solid throughline when it comes to the relationship of Indigenous life and land. It’s true - we love our land, to the point where it might even seem obnoxious to anyone on the outside looking in. But without, there goes our very Indigeneities; our center. And that thinking is hardly new. As part of my research, I’ve been sucked into one-off stories from all the Native delegations that made treks to the White House over the centuries - such grandeur in desperation - to air land and treaty grievances to anyone who’d listen. By 1850, that was the DOI. In all their appeals, every single one has addressed the inextricable connection between land and survival. One delegation involved my own Pueblo people, who in 1922, journeyed from New Mexico to Washington, DC to stop a bill that would seize some 60 million acres from them. But they argued before the DOI that the impact would actually be much greater. Turns out, their ceremonial dances were being threatened by the potential land loss.
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