Letter to the Editor: Americans are witnessing the Antiquities Act is burned at the stake

During Europe’s Late Stone Age (20,000BCE), migrants from SE Asia (proto-Hopi), Japan (proto-Zuni) and other native tribes began crossing Siberia’s “land-bridge” into “America” per a lost Portuguese sailor. Over 500 “tribes” inhabited this continent prior to Columbus thinking he’d landed in India and “discovered” land that was already rich with agriculture and cultural settlements. Diverse people adapted to ecologically rich landscapes prior to Europeans’ rushing to claim settled lands, egotistically slaughter wildlife, and rip earthen cover to amass wealth from fossil fuels and minerals — a pattern that continues today. Euro-Americans have occupied America for >1% of the time of human occupation.

Currently, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase National Monuments, and Chaco Canyon National Park are being stripped of protective measures that ensure their cultural significance for future generations of native people and Euro-Americans. To acquire more energy fuels and geologic minerals, over 90% of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase lands are being converting to dredge pits so the current Billionaires can claim their place as Trillionaires. Native people, people concerned with cultural legacy, and other common Americans are witnessing the loss of pre- and current American history as the Antiquities Act is burned at the stake.