May 11, 2014

ATV rally threatens Native sites

Welfare Cowboy Jr. Leads 300 Armed Protesters on Crusade for More Stuff They Aren’t Entitled To

By Josh KilburnThe entitled lowlifes at the Bundy Ranch are back at it again, and this time gathering 300 strong to ride roughshod through the Four Corners region that is home to ancient dwellings and other cultural resources to the Ancestral Pueblo—because the White man cannot do enough damage to Native American history, he also has to run ATVs through historically important land as well.ATV Rally to Ride Through Sacred Native American Burial Sites

By Scott Gaudinier[B]oth Native Americans and environmentalists state that the current ATV ban is vital at Recapture Canyon, as there are fragile artifacts, burials and homes of ancient Pueblo peoples, all of which need to be preserved. Current Navajo inhabitants claim that the dwellings and artifacts left there belonged to their direct ancestors, and that the sacred land needs to not be trodden upon out of respect for their people.

Lyman, in response to Native American criticism, stated that it would be possible for ATVs to ride through the area while preserving sacred ancient artifacts. However, Jessica Goad from the Center for Western Priorities strongly disagreed with Lyman’s statement, explaining how ATV riders ruined any chance of riding through the area when two men were discovered by authorities using picks and shovels to construct another trail for ATVs before the original ban had been instituted.

The ATV rally to ride through sacred Native American burial sites has since spurred anger among Natives, as well as environmentalists and other groups opposed to the rising threat of right-wing action in Western states. According to these groups, not only do these actions show extreme lack of respect to Native cultures, but it also shows a high amount of ignorance about the government’s involvement in the lives of citizens. This is due to both far-right individuals like rancher Cliven Bundy and the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, who each provoked the event.


Bundy supporters defy feds by riding ATVs in off-limits Utah canyon[BLM Utah director Juan Palma] said he was concerned the riders may have damaged artifacts and dwellings that "tell the story of the first farmers in the Four Corners region" of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

"Damage to archaeological sites is permanent and the information about our collective past is then lost forever," Jerry Spangler, of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, said to the Salt Lake Tribune. "It is sad that irreplaceable treasures of importance to all Americans would be sacrificed on the altar of anti-government fervor. It is worse that protesters would be so blinded to their own insensitivity as to what others consider to be sacred treasures of their past."

Palma also pointed out in his statement that there are more than 2,800 miles of trails on public lands that are open to ATV use within a short drive of Blanding. He also noted that BLM-managed public lands in Utah provide $490 million in local and national economic benefits in 2012.
ATVs in Recapture Canyon: What Are They Fighting For?

By Christina RoseLyman said he knows the area is sacred but somehow believes that ATV riders can preserve the area while riding down paths too narrow to pass without damaging the area.

“The trail within the closure area is very narrow. There are many points throughout the closed area where there are remains, relics, artifacts.” Crandall said. “Some are right next to the trail and some are even on the trail. You are risking those resources by using those vehicles.”

In a letter to the Salt Lake Tribune, Willie Grayeyes, chair of a nonprofit that lobbies to protect Navajo land, wrote that a Veterans Retreat had to be cancelled because of the rally.

“This opportunity for healing, to help these men and women has been postponed due to the threats of illegal activities by San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman on behalf of those who desire to drive their ATV toys over the sacred ruins of others.” Grayeyes wrote. “Contrary to the beliefs of many, southeastern Utah was not an empty place that no one wanted just waiting to be inhabited by European settlers or discovered as a recreation playground, but rather it was and remains our home.”

Lyman has complained that Blanding’s ancestors used that path 150 years ago to travel north and the townspeople have a right to the area, which is still legally accessible on foot and on horseback.

“I understand the viewpoint that many of the descendants of the original Blandings were there 150 years ago, but I would also say that the Native Americans have been here for two millennia,” Crandall responded.
How Cliven Bundy and the Land Rights Movement Screws Native Americans

Land Rights activists like to invoke ‘ancestral rights’ to federally owned land, even as they run roughshod over preservation sites for ancient Native American cultures.

By Caitlin Dickson
The piece of Recapture Canyon that Saturday’s protesters insist they have a right to drive on is closed off in order to preserve artifacts that offer invaluable insight into how ancient Native Americans lived.

“Damage to archaeological sites is permanent and the information about our collective past is then lost forever,” the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance’s Jerry Spangler told The Salt Lake Tribune in response to the protest. “It is sad that irreplaceable treasures of importance to all Americans would be sacrificed on the altar of anti-government fervor. It is worse that protesters would be so blinded to their own insensitive as to what others consider to be sacred treasures of their past.”

Libertarians—the proponents of hands-off government, including land rights activists—are fond of appropriating Native American imagery to evoke negative sentiments toward the federal government, especially with regards to gun control. Last year, several gun control opponents warned that federal gun regulations would lead to a massacre akin to that of nearly 300 Lakota Indians by U.S. soldiers near the South Dakota’s Wounded Knee Creek in 1890. “Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history,” one blogger at Libertarian politician Ron Paul’s website DailyPaul.com wrote last year. “It ended in the senseless murder of 297 people.” A popular Internet meme picturing a Native American tribal leader surrounding the words, “I’m all for total gun control and trusting the government to protect you…After all, it worked great for us,”promotes the same message.

That believers of the same ideology would try to appeal to the emotions of Native Americans to promote one agenda, while shamelessly ignoring the rights of those same people in an effort to further another cause, is ironic to say the least. So, too, is Bundy, a literal freeloader in every sense of the word, suggesting that black people would be better off as slaves than “under government subsidy.”
Arrest the bums

BLM Says It Will Prosecute Illegal ATV Riders at Recapture Canyon

By Public News ServiceThe federal government says it plans to prosecute everyone who illegally rode an ATV on federally protected lands in southeastern Utah over the weekend. Juan Palma with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says his agency will "pursue all available redress through the legal system to hold the lawbreakers accountable."

Motorized vehicles have been banned in the area, which contains ancient Native American cultural assets, since 2007.
Comment:  I hope prosecutions will happen, but I wouldn't bet on it. No one wants to go up against the gun-wielding Bundy "patriots" aka terrorists.

For more on Cliven Bundy, see ATV Rally in Off-Limit Canyon and What Bundy and Sterling Tell Us.

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